The Other Brother
by Evan Vave
Summary: Aaron Smith had always felt out of touch with his family, however when the man he assumed was his father for the past 24 years, shatters his world, he seeks out his true family.   Season 1 with a new brother in the mix  crosses over with Stargate SG1 ch4
1. Chapter 1

Aaron Smith sat quietly at his desk, his hands firmly pressed against the hard wooden surface, while his face reflected an even harder look of anger, despair and misery. It had been two weeks since his father, or at the last the man he had thought to be his father, had passed away, and before him was all that remained of that legacy. A letter.

Aaron blinked his eyes trying to behold the gravity of the situation, it was almost unreal. In his final act on this earth, his father had shattered Aaron's reality.

A knock on the door soon brought Aaron out of his thoughts. Paige McCuller, Aaron's secretary, stood in the doorway, her small frame seemingly out of place against the mighty oak archway. "Mr Smith, I have those documents you requested" she uttered sheepishly.

Aaron shook his head "Please take them back, and cancel all my appointments" he replied in as friendly a tone as he could muster.

"Yes sir" the fragile woman squeaked, and backed out of the room.

"Wait" Aaron shouted, causing the poor women to stop so suddenly several folders flew out of her hands. "Cancel everything for the next two weeks, I've got some family business to deal with"

"Of course Mr. Smith" the woman replied as she scrambled to recover her lost documents and quickly made for her desk.

Aaron felt guilty over what had just transpired. The poor woman had worked for him for several years, and in an attempt to comfort him earlier that morning he had almost bitten her head off.

* * *

California, it had been years since Aaron had last ventured this far west, not since his years at Berkeley. Much of his dealings with company assets along with R&D took place in the Eastern states, however there were corporate offices in and around Pasadena he had yet to inspect. He figured that if nothing came of this trip, at the very least he could write it off as work.

As Aaron stepped off the company plane, a black limo stood waiting for him. As he stepped inside a rather shady figure began to speak "Hello Mr Smith, I'm John Izac and this is the information you requested" the man slipped a folder towards Aaron.

Taking the folder, Aaron opened it to reveal photos. "This is the family?" he questioned.

"Yes, according to the medical records and the DNA tests, this is the family" John confirmed. "There is a slight problem though"

Aaron looked up from the folder and raised an eyebrow "What do you mean there's a problem?"

John gulped slightly at the unnerving look "I'm sorry to inform you sir, but Mr Walker passed away 2 days ago"

Aaron deflated, he did not know this man, yet the emotion attached to his passing was something he could not control.

"Again I am sorry sir" John continued "His funeral is today, all the information is in the folder should you wish to attend"

Aaron was torn, the family had been hit by a massive loss, it wouldn't be a good time to approach them, however he felt in his heart that he could not wait. "Yes, let's go" he finally answered.

* * *

Aaron had changed into a black suit, and his limo now pulled up to the graveyard. As he stepped from the limo, he couldn't help but feel awkward, mourning amongst the loved ones of a man he did not know.

Aaron took up a place near the back of cemetery and tried to get a glimpse of Nora and her children. All five of them were sitting quietly, tears streaming down their faces. This was what his father had deprived him of all those years ago. He should've been sitting there amongst his siblings, mourning the loss of a loving father and being comforted by his brothers and sisters. There was no one there to comfort him at his father's passing, those that attempted to, did so out of obligation rather than love, and that was something Aaron despised.

As the service drew to an end, and the body was finally lowered into the ground, Aaron reached into his pocket and withdrew a coin. The coin was old, beyond old it was one of the original mints of the US treasury cast in gold and worth far more than its weight. His father, well the man he had called father all his life, had given it to him as graduation present. Aaron took the coin, said a small prayer, and placed the coin in the ground.

Nora Walker was fighting back tears as her husband's coffin was lowered into place, six feet beneath the surface, his final resting place. The emotion flooded over her like a tidal wave, relentlessly threatening to drown her in an ocean of sorrow. Between ebs, she fought her way to the surface, and for a moment someone caught her attention. Darting behind the sea of faces she could all but swear to have seen William. _This is it_, she thought, _I'm losing my mind_. But as the parade of goodbyes and final farewells began to draw to a close, the man she had glimpsed finally stepped forward. She watched as he pulled something golden from his pocket and placed it in the grave.

Nora was speechless, this young man, who could barely be older than 24, was the spitting image of William, at least at his age. As the man withdrew, Nora could not let him get away and paced after him. "Excuse me" she almost yelled, pushing past the crowd of friends and employees. The man stopped mid stride and turned to face her, and in the moment their eyes met, they both felt a connection, a familiarity.

Aaron was staring into his mothers face; his own mother had passed when he was only 8, so he had never felt this emotional depth before.

"Do I know you?" Nora questioned, breaking the fragile moment.

"I'm sorry Mrs Walker, this probably wasn't the right time to meet you" Aaron apologized.

Nora shook her head "There is never a bad time to meet someone my dear" she stated in her motherly tone "especially since you remind me so much of William" she choked.

"I don't want to interrupt the funeral, would it be possible to meet with you sometime, it is quite important" Aaron stuttered now feeling completely out of place as the graveyard grew quiet and all eyes had turned to the pair. He quickly removed his business card and handed it to her "Please call me sometime" Aaron then turned and made for his limo.

* * *

The Walker house was bustling with activity after the wake had concluded and the last of the mourners had left the building. The 5 siblings and their mother sat quietly around the dining room table, exhausted from the days events, things were very quite.

"Mom, who was that man you were talking with at the funeral" Kevin finally broke the silence.

Nora removed the card from her pocket and read the name aloud "Aaron Smith".

"A little young to be a "friend" of yours" Sarah quipped.

"I've never seen him before in my life, but I swear he's the spitting image of your father" Nora explained.

"You're kidding me, no way was dad that hot!" Kevin smirked.

"Your father was quite the looker in his day" Nora laughed, it felt good to laugh after so much sadness and she was relieved at how much tension seemed to evaporate after the statement.

"Please stop right there" Kitty almost shouted raising her hands in a pleading manner "I don't want to know"

"Are you going to call him?" Tommy piped in.

"If you're not, why don't you slip that phone number my way?" Kevin laughed, causing everyone to break out laughing too.

"Are you kidding me, you think everyone's gay" Sarah replied.

"Hey, excuse me but did you see the suit he was wearing, that was Armani, custom made, that jacket probably cost more than your car, now what kind of straight guy would spend that much money on a suit?" Kevin rationalized.

"Maybe he's in the fashion industry?" Sarah answered.

"Yes because the fashion industries just full of heterosexuals" Kevin laughed.

"Excuse me, but he wanted to talk to me" Nora finally chipped in "And don't worry Kevin I'll put in a good word for you" she smiled.

* * *

Aaron had not expected to hear back from Nora so soon, he anticipated at least a week before events would calm down, so when she called him the very next day and asked him to come over to talk, he was hardly prepared.

"Aaron welcome!" Nora greeted "please come in" she offered as she led Aaron toward the living room.

"Before we start I need to ask you one thing" Nora stated flatly as Aaron took a seat on the sofa.

"Anything" Aaron stuttered.

"Are you gay?" she smiled warmly.

Aaron's eyes opened wide in shock at the unexpected question and realizing this Nora quickly explained "I'm sorry its just that my Son, who is also Gay, well is Gay if you're not gay, wanted to know"

"I see, well yes I suppose I am" Aaron replied.

"Great, I'll have to set the two of you up on a date" Nora announced.

"Actually Mrs Walker" Aaron interrupted "You might want to hear what I have to say before setting me up with your son" he continued seriously.

"Okay, well why don't you go ahead and tell me what you need to tell me" Nora stated with a seriousness that trumped his.

"You were pregnant 24 years ago, and gave birth to a baby boy at St Andrews Hospital" Aaron stated flatly.

Shock gripped Nora, followed closely by sadness at the child she had lost on that day. She nodded slowly.

"My father left me this when he passed away 2 weeks ago" Aaron continued, and handed Nora the letter his father had left behind.

Nora took the letter and dawning her reading glasses, began to skim the words for anything that was relevant to her. She soon found the passage Aaron had been focused on. In it Aaron's father had explained that their child had died while he was in the nursery, and so filled with grief he had switched the dead child with its neighbour.

"You're my son" Nora gasped, her eyes raising from the letter.

"No parent should ever outlive their child" Aaron whispered, his voice choked with emotion "What my father did to you, I am truly sorry"

Nora's eyes stayed transfixed on Aaron, her son, her son whom she had thought died so many years ago. He was alive, he was here, she had prayed so many times for it to have been a mistake, and it seemed that her prayers had been answered.

"You are my son" Nora gasped again "You have nothing to apologize for" she flung herself at Aaron and embraced him in a hug so tight he could barely breathe.

They sat, embracing for what seemed like an eternity before Aarons cell phone chimed, alerting him of a meeting he had scheduled.

"I have to go" Aaron announced, breaking from his mothers embrace.

"You can't go, I just found out my son is alive, I have an entire lifetime to catch up on" Nora pleaded.

Aaron nodded "I'm sorry Mrs Walker, but I need to make this appointment"

"Mrs Walker? Are you kidding me, from now on I'm MOM" Nora almost shouted.

"Okay Mom, Ill come back this afternoon, oh and here I hope you don't mind but I had to be certain so my PI did DNA tests to confirm I am your son, the results are this folder" Aaron smiled and left the house.

* * *

It was barely an hour after Aaron had left that Nora's phone began to ring, and as she had anticipated it was Kevin.

"Kevin, what can I do for you dear" Nora answered in her most sickly sweet mothering voice.

"Funny mom, you know why I'm calling" Kevin replied sternly, ignoring his mothers sentiment.

"Yah, about that, it's a bit complicated" Nora explained.

"How complicated could it be? Is he gay or isn't he? You got to tell me! Sarah and I have a bet" Kevin pressed.

"Well he is gay" Nora answered.

"I Knew it!" Kevin shouted "Score one for my team, hold on a second I'm going to conference Sarah in on this call"

"Hello" Sarah answered.

"Sarah, moms on conference, she says he's gay you owe me 100 bucks!" Kevin smirked.

"No way mom, you must have miss heard him or something" Sarah pressed "And besides the bet wasn't that he was gay, it was that mom would be able to get you date with him"

"Children shut up" Nora snapped, immediately silencing her children.

"Mom what's wrong" Kevin finally broke the silence.

"Are you okay mom?" Sarah added.

"Everythings fine, more than fine actually. I'll explain it all at Paige's party. "

* * *

A party at moms was always an eerie prospect. For Sarah it was doubly concerning after having learned of her fathers infidelities. To make things worse her mother had invited the woman whom her father had the affair with.

Aaron felt a little out of place standing around the fiesta themed table while the family members and friends arrived one by one. Nora, had told him she would be announcing him to the family tonight and this party was to be a celebration. In the mean time Aaron did his best to make small talk with his siblings careful not to reveal too much.

Two siblings in particular had begun to hover around Aaron and ask inordinate amount of questions, from where are you from, to how many countries have you been too. Kevin's date in particular, caught Aarons attention the most. Kevin had insisted that they were not together, and that Scotty was just a witness whom his sister had invited to get back at him. Aaron felt this was Kevin's attempt to announce his availability, and could imagine how stupid Kevin would feel after the announcement.

Aaron excused himself from Kevin and Sarah, and made his way inside, away from the dining table that had been prepared on the courtyard by the pool. Once inside Aaron was captivated by the stairwell, not by the stairs themselves, but by the collage of photos that lined the spiralling wall, revealing all 5 children and their parents in various stages of their lives.

Aaron was caught like a deer in headlights, his focus completely on the photos, each capturing a moment, a memory that he should have been a part of. It wasn't until a hand gently brushed his cheek, that Aaron was snapped out of thoughts.

"I'm sorry, you were crying" Scotty apologized, and Aaron felt the cold trail of a tear running down his cheek. "They're quite the family aren't they?" he added gesturing to the photos.

Aaron nodded in agreement.

"Sometimes I wish my family were that close" Scotty continued, and Aaron noted the slight southern accent in his voice. "Was your family ever that close?"

"No" Aaron replied sombrely "I never had any siblings, and my mother died when I was 8. After she passed away my father sort of retreated from the world"

"There must have been some good times you can hold onto, they're always good times, no matter how small, it's what makes life worth living" Scotty answered.

Aaron smiled "I suppose there were some good times" he replied "My graduation, my father was so proud" another tear began to well up and Aaron quickly brushed it aside taking a deep breath. "You know you're very wise" he smiled.

"Why thank you" Scotty stated with a grand smile spread across his face, his hands clutching imaginary pearls around his neck.

Aaron looked into the eyes of this young man and he felt something, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. He took the moment and leaned in and to his surprise Scotty had done the same. Their lips met in what felt like an explosion of emotion. For several long seconds Aaron was happy, a happiness second only to the day earlier when Nora had so openly accepted him as her Son.

Scotty broke away "we should head back to the table before the music starts" he smiled.

Aaron nodded his head in agreement "Can I call you sometime?" he questioned as they bound down the staircase towards the back door.

"How about we go out tonight? After the party?" Scotty proposed.

Aaron thought for a moment and wondered if his new family would allow him to leave "Okay" he answered, giving Scotty a quick peak on the cheek before exiting onto the courtyard.

As the pair made their way across the courtyard, Nora intercepted them, her face revealed an inner sadness which Aaron had quickly picked up on. "Are you okay mom?" he questioned, instantly realizing what he said the moment a gasp left Scotties mouth.

"Wait, you're her son?" Scotty questioned with a look of exasperation on his face.

Nora's face hardened slightly as she turned to face Scotty "Do not tell anyone, at least until I've had the chance to" she said with a stern voice that no one could question.

Scotty nodded in reply.

"Please go join the others, I need to talk with Aaron in private" she finished.

As Scotty scampered away towards the rest of the guests, Nora's face softened reflecting the warmth and comfort of a mother. "Aaron, I'm okay son, there's just been a bit of a situation that might explode during dinner. I believe the rest of the kids are in the kitchen right now, I want to let them know now, before dinner starts" she stated, taking Aaron by the arm and leading him into the house.

It took but a few short moments to reach the kitchen, where sure enough the siblings had all gathered, picking at food on preparation island, while cater waiters bustled about trying to avoid them. As soon as Nora entered the room, everything fell silent, they had obviously been discussing something about their mother.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make" she stated firmly, garnering their attention "By now you've all met Aaron here" everyone smiled and nodded. "Well there's something important you need to know about Aaron".

"Oh my God, he's not your boyfriend is he?" Kevin questioned, a serious and stressed look on his face.

"Kevin, don't be silly!" Nora retorted "What you need to know is Aaron here, is..." she gulped "My son".

There was shocked silence all around the room, even the cater waiters had stopped mid preparation and gawked at her. It was Sarah who finally broke the silence "Mom, how is that possible?"

"You may not remember, but 24 years ago your father and I were expecting" Nora explained "that would've been two years after we had Justin"

"Yes I remember mom, but I thought he died at the hospital, I remember we had a funeral and everything" Kitty spoke up.

"Well it seems that the child that died that night wasn't your brother. Aarons father switched the babies in the nursery after finding his own son dead." Nora began to cry and Aaron placed his arms around her comforting.

"Wait wait wait, you don't expect us to just take his word on this do you?" Kevin the ever vigilant lawyer questioned.

"I didn't have to, we've done the DNA tests, he is your brother" Nora explained.

"Oh my god" all five siblings gasped at the same time.

"We have another brother" Kitty yelled running around the table to hug Aaron.

"Welcome to the family bro" Justin and Tommy both replied, extending their hands in a warm firm shake.

Sarah and Kevin both smiled, but underneath their plastic exterior their trepidation was plainly obvious. As the other 3 siblings took their new brother by the arm and led him outside, the pair descended upon their mother.

"Mom I want to see those DNA results" Kevin stated as soon as the other group were out of ear shot.

"Yeah mom, I want to see those results too, I mean what do you know about this guy?" Sarah added "We have no idea what his motives are"

"His MOTIVES?" Nora all but shouted "Are you two kidding me, he is your brother, my son, I will not have the two of you treating him like a criminal!"

"Mom just tell me, has he asked you for money?" Sarah pressed.

"No, of course not" Nora replied "And the DNA test results are in a folder on your fathers desk"

* * *

Now that the secret was out, and all the siblings knew who he was, Aaron decided to go for a swim having seen Tommy jump in fully clothed in an effort to reassure Paige. He quickly slipped into a pair of swimming trunks which Justin had been kind enough to lend him, and stepped onto the poolside shirtless.

Immediately all conversation in the pool area ceased and all eyes fell upon the perfectly formed 24 year old. Scotty, who was already in the pool, swam up to the edge and playfully splashed water at Aaron.

"Looks like you have everyone's attention" Scotty laughed "And I don't blame them, a body like yours belongs in the Smithsonian"

Aaron laughed "Thanks for the compliment, though you might want to work on your pickup lines" he retorted and finally jumped into water and swam up next to Scotty.

From across the courtyard Sarah, Kitty and Kevin watched the pair intently.

"You know I hope they end up together" Kitty commented, earning dagger like stares from Kevin.

"Yeah I just hope he isn't after a piece of Ojai" Sarah stated.

"Wait, you think he's here for money?" Kitty questioned.

"What else would he be here for" Kevin retorted "look at him, a body like that, he's probably never done an honest days work in his life"

"I think you're just jealous" Kitty remarked.

"Jealous of what?" Kevin questioned.

"Well, when you first saw him at the funeral you had the biggest crush on him, and all morning you've been hitting on him, and now that he's your brother and no longer an option, you're Jealous cause he's hitting on another guy you actually had a chance with" Kitty analyzed.

"Wow, I think that's more than hitting on" Sarah added, as across the court yard Scotty and Aaron were now kissing one another.

"I'm sorry Kevin" Kitty consoled, rubbing his arm "But he is our brother, and you did tell him Scotty was just a witness"

Kevin fumed and walked away, heading back towards the house. Meanwhile Kitty turned to Sarah "I don't think he's after money Sarah, I mean you saw him at the funeral, hell you saw the clothes he was wearing today, there's no way someone grifting for money could afford that kind of getup".

"I guess you're right" Sarah replied "I think the stress of dads affair, and the company finances are just getting to me"

"Wait, what's happening with the company finances?" Kitty questioned.

"You can't tell anyone, but we're in serious trouble kitty, if we have a roof over our heads in 3 months we'll be lucky" Sarah answered.

As night descended upon the Walker residence, everyone had changed and were now gathered around the long table. Aaron took his seat next to Scotty and smiled at his sister kitty who sat across from him.

"I would just like to thank everyone for coming today" Nora announced "It was an important day, we finally got Paige to get back in the water, and we've welcomed Aaron into the family"

Everyone cheered and smiled, and very soon dinner was being served. The fiesta theme, though somewhat tacky, actually turned out to be quite delicious. Soon after dinner had started however, an obvious lull in conversation could be felt between the 5 siblings and their partners. None of them were talking, this fact was picked up on by kitties co-host Warren.

"What's going on?" Warren had questioned.

"What do you mean?"Nora had answered from her place at the head of the table.

"Why are we the only people talking?" Warren added.

And that is when the evening got very interesting as Aaron watched the fury behind his mothers eyes unleash. It was a cold reserved fury and her voice remained perfectly levelled as she announced that she knew about the Affair that her children were trying to hide from her.

Holly, full of embarrassment, fled the house, and those that remained finished their dinner in silence.

As the guests finally left the house, Aaron was caught in a conundrum, on one hand he wanted to go out with Scotty, but on the other he wanted to comfort his mother. To compromise he asked Scottie to wait for him, and made his way inside, looking for his mother.

He found Nora a few minutes later, sitting alone in the living room with Kitty by her side consoling her as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Mom" Aaron said softly, taking a seat beside his weeping mother "Are you going to be all right? Do you need someone to stay with you tonight?" he questioned.

Nora took a deep breath, the last thing she felt was fine, but right now she felt equally guilty about ruining the party. "I'll be okay Aaron, Kitty will be staying with me tonight" she replied.

"Okay, but if you need anything, no matter what time of night, please just call me" Aaron stated.

* * *

"Well that was an interesting night" Scotty smiled as Aaron came out to meet him.

"A very interesting night, I wonder if all the family get together are this interesting" Aaron remarked as he kissed Scotty on the cheek.

"So, what do you feel like doing tonight?" Scotty questioned with a hint of seduction in his voice.

"Honestly, I feel like staying in and watching a movie" Aaron replied.

"You read my mind" Scotty laughed "Your place or mine?"

"Well my place is on the other side of the country, so how about yours" Aaron answered, his face millimetres from Scotty's.

Scotty kissed Aaron and then the pair left the Walker residence. It took barely twenty minutes to reach Scotty's apartment. Wasting no time, the two were snuggling in front of the television several minutes later, watching a random movie on HBO. The name of the movie didn't matter much, as they spent the majority of the time making love on the sofa.

* * *

Aaron and Scotty had been dating for almost 2 weeks, when things started to get a bit shaky. Aaron had fallen head over heels for the young man, however his work obligations could wait no longer, and he had to return to New York.

The Pair sat down to dinner at Aaron's hotel room suite, and Aaron was looking deep into Scotty's eyes "I have to leave tomorrow" he finally announced, breaking the silence.

Scotty was taken aback by the sudden announcement. He had known since the beginning of their relationship, that Aaron would eventually have to return New York, but he didn't think it would be so soon.

"I would ask you to come with me, but so much of your life is situated in this city" Aaron apologized.

Scotty nodded, his eyes began to well up with tears. "How long will you be gone for?" he questioned hopefully.

Aaron shook his head solemnly "We're mid stream on an R&D project for the military, It'll be at least 7 months before its completed. But once it's done I'll be moving to Pasadena permanently" he replied, hoping beyond hope that Scotty would wait for him.

"I don't know if I can wait that long" Scotty replied, shattering Aaron's world.

"I understand" Aaron stated "And I can't expect you to wait for me"

With that the Pair shared one last meal, and one last night of romance together.

* * *

Aaron arrived back in New York the very next day. This was the city he called home, yet for some reason he no longer felt at home. Walking into his apartment felt odd, like walking through the home of someone else. When he arrived at work, all he could think about was his new family, and Scotty, the man he had fallen in love with. _How could I have let him go?_ He questioned, taking a seat behind his desk and beginning to tackle the insurmountable pile of paper work his secretary had left for him.

As the day wore on, Aaron made his way down to the primary R&D lab, this was usually the highlight of his day, where he could examine and critique the latest technologies. The military project he was currently working on, was a kinetic-thermal personal shield. The concept had been floating around science fiction shows for the better part of a century, however the physics behind its construction, had only recently become available. Seven months, Seven months to complete a project that could save literally thousands of American soldiers lives, in exchange for his relationship with Scotty. Aaron was the original creator of the device, coming up with the field force technologies that allowed it to become a reality, and as such no one could replace him.

Aaron tapped on a glass screen that immediately caused half a dozen holographic windows to appear around the room. Each window represented various portions of the device, in various states of development. The physics behind its construction were sound, however a major hurdle had been in the fabrication of the meta-materials that would allow for the conversion of EM forces into Kinetic absorption pulses. The current prototype was far too large, and consumed far more energy than the equations anticipated.

As Aaron began to be lost in his equations, Brian Stephens, a very bright man with several PHD's to his name, entered the lab.

Brain stood watching Aarons eyes dart from screen to screen, as his hands carefully orchestrated the multiple windows like a symphony. He had worked with Aaron's farther for the better part of two decades, and watched the young boy's enthusiasm for science grow exponentially. At this point Aaron had been solving quantum equations that Brain could barely understand.

"Ah you're still stuck on meta-material fabrication" Brain stated, breaking the silence.

Aarons hands continued to dance across the multiple holographic screens. It was a technology that had been available to him for the past 8 years, yet was still far too expensive for commercial application. "I think interleaving gold and cadmium on a adamantine scaffold might give us the tensile strength to keep the structure viable, the problem is there is no element with the right photo absorption rate and electro conductive capacity, to make the scaffold work" Aaron explained.

Brain stepped in closer as Aaron now pulled out a 3 dimensional image of the molecular scaffold. "Well you know what you father always said" Brian pressed, finally understanding what Aaron was saying.

"If it doesn't exist, build it" The pair said in unison.

Brain quickly stepped to Aarons side and pulled out a modelling window with the basic structure of an atom.

"Are you serious?" Aaron gasped "You want us to build an atom"

"We'll build the atom virtually, then figure out how to fabricate it later" Brain stated.

Aaron nodded in agreement, and the pair set to work constructing an artificial atom which could not possibly exist in nature.

* * *

Three weeks had passed very quickly as Aaron had become absorbed by his work. He had barely left the design labs, feeling that the closer he was to completing the project, the closer he would be to going home. His real home, with a mother who loved him and siblings. Over the past three week's he had checked in on his family several times. It was his last call to his mother that had him now sitting at his mother's breakfast table in Pasadena.

"You really didn't have to fly all the way over here Aaron, I know you're busy" Nora apologized profusely to her son. In their last phone conversation, barely 8 hours ago, she had mentioned that the family was selling off their ranch in Ojai and how wonderful it would've been for him to have seen it before it was gone. She had no idea that he would hop on the very next flight to join her.

"If it's a piece of family history, I'd like to see it before it's gone, absorb some of the stories about the life I never got to live" Aaron pressed with a smile on his face. "Also, you never really said why you're selling the place?"

"Well, no one used it last year and it just seemed like too much of an extravagance" Nora lied. The truth was, William Walker, her dead husband, and Aarons dead biological father, had embezzled 15 million dollars out of Ojai Foods. Selling the Ranch was just one of the compromises needed in order to repay that debt.

"Okay, so I guess I'll drive us up?" Aaron smiled tossing his car keys up in the air playfully. Two weeks earlier he had his secretary purchase a house and car for him nearby, in preparation for his eventual move to Pasadena.

"Well how big is your rental? There's this wall panel I want to save" Nora explained.

"It's a sports car, and it's not a rental" Aaron replied.

"Not a rental?" Nora questioned.

"Yup, I bought a house and a car" Aaron admitted.

Nora's eyes went wide with glee and she raced across the room and hugged Aaron "You've moved to Pasadena!" she shouted with joy.

"Yes and no" Aaron replied.

"I don't understand" Nora stated, releasing him and backing away slightly.

"Well, I'm still working on a project that will take a few more months to complete in New York, but once that's over I'll be moving to California permanently" Aaron announced.

"So a few more months and I'll have you within mothering range" Nora joked.

"Looks like it" Aaron laughed "I'm sorry but I don't think the cars big enough" he added.

"That's okay, I asked to borrow Dave's truck, and he'll be coming with us" Nora explained.

Aaron grinned, mischief in his eyes "This wouldn't happen to be the same Dave you went on a date with?" he added a smirk.

"Okay which one of your Siblings will I be killing?" she laughed "It's Kevin isn't it, I'm going to kill him"

"It was Kitty" Aaron replied "I haven't spoken to Kevin since he told me he was going out with Scotty"

Nora's face turned sweet and compassionate "Oh I'm so sorry honey, what happened between you two anyway?"

"Well, we both knew I'd have to leave soon, and I didn't want him to have to put his life on hold for 7 months, I was just hoping that when I finally did move back we could reconnect. But from what I've heard they're pretty serious now" Aaron admitted. "And at least he's going out with someone I know will treat him right"

Nora reached around and hugged Aaron "Don't worry honey, you'll find someone" she squeezed him then let go. "Okay we better get going, How about we all pile into the truck and head up?"

"Actually, can I just follow you two up, I think a bit of alone time might be perfect for you two" Aaron giggled.

* * *

The drive up to Ojai was wonderful, even alone Aaron still embraced the Californian coast. However as they pulled into Ojai the weather took a turn for the worse and buckets of rain started blurring the line between road and mud. Finally pulling up to the house, Aaron saw that his mother and Dave were already here, so he quickly jumped out of the car and ran to the entrance. The exposure of not more than ten seconds had left him utterly drenched from head to toe. As he entered the house he found his mother wrapped up snugly in a blanket.

"Aaron take those wet clothes off now and ill throw them in the dryer with ours" his mother stated firmly.

Aaron complied, and in a few minutes he was standing there, in the middle of the room in nothing but his boxers. Thankfully they were still dry.

As his mother disappeared into the laundry room the door suddenly flung open to reveal Kitty and Warren. Aaron just stood there in shock, forgetting about how close to naked he was.

"Ah" Kitty screamed as she saw Aaron standing in the middle of the living room in only his boxers. "What the hell is going on here!"

"I can explain" Aaron said raising his hands in a defensive position.

"What's with all the commotion!" Nora shouted as she entered the living room, then froze as she saw Kitty and Warren "Um Kitty what are you doing here"

"Mom Whats going on?" Kitty replied earnestly.

"What do you mean?" Nora answered perplexed.

"Well I walk in to find Aaron here in just his boxers" Aaron finally realized his near nakedness and picked up a seat cushion, "And you, half naked in a blanket". As if on cue Dave stepped out of the bedroom in a pink robe. "Oh my god I'm going to need counselling for the rest of my life" Kitty concluded.

"Oh grow up Kitty, It was pouring rain so I just threw your brother and Dave's clothes in the dryer" Nora explained. "And what may I ask are you doing here?"

Kitty's eyes went all shifty as she tried to lie her way out of the predicament "Umm well we're here for work, we needed a quite place to prepare for an interview"

"I see, and your paperwork and laptops?" Nora interrogated.

"Um, I forgot them at work" Kitty sighed, just as the sound of another car pulling up could be heard.

"Oh my god, its Kevin, that big mouth we'll never hear the end of this" Nora shouted, "oh no, he brought Scotty" Both she and Kitty looked to Aaron apologetically. "I'm so sorry Aaron".

"It's okay, we're brothers, this was bound to happen eventually" Aaron consoled.

The door flung open and the pair walked through and stopped in shock at the sight of the people in the house.

"Oh great there are people here" Kevin announced, but then drew silent as his eyes rested on his brother. His incredibly toned, and well defined brother who was standing wet, in the living room with nothing but a thin pair of boxers and seat cushion, and he could tell Scotty had also stopped mid sentence to check him out too.

"Um what are you doing here?" Nora questioned, breaking the pair out of their temporary stupor.

"I could ask you guys the same thing... um is there a reason why Aaron's sitting here in his underwear?" Kevin questioned.

"My clothes are in the dryer" Aaron admitted "I have change in my car if I could just borrow your umbrella" he added.

"Oh dear could you please grab Dave and I something too?" Nora asked.

Aaron nodded and walked over to Kevin where he gave his brother a hug "Nice to see you again" he then moved over and gave Scotty a hug "It's great to see you happy" he smiled and took the umbrella from him, then exited the house.

"What is Aaron doing here?" Scotty demanded shortly after the door closed.

"I invited him" Nora explained.

"Oh great, did you do this to ruin my weekend?" Kevin pushed.

"Kevin calm down, we had no idea you'd be coming up this weekend" Kitty added.

Scotty patted Kevin's arm gingerly "Come on, it's going to be okay"

"Of course you'd think it'll be okay, you were fawning all over him just now" Kevin yelled.

"I wasn't fawning, I was just startled, and from the looks of things you were just as startled" Scotty yelled back.

"Look just calm down, we're..." Nora's voice trailed off as the sound of more cars arriving could be heard.

"What is it?" Kitty questioned.

"Holy mother and Mary, it's the rest of the family!" she gasped.

* * *

About an hour later everyone had changed into fresh clothes and gathered in the living room to discuss the situation. Kitty was spinning some elaborate story to explain why Warren was there, and was nailed by Sarah when she asked where Amber, Warrens girlfriend, was.

"So there you have it" Nora concluded "and the road's are like rivers, so we'll all be sleeping here tonight, but luckily we have just enough beds"

And then just on cue the sound of another car pulled up to the house "Correction, we HAD just enough beds" Kevin added sarcastically as Justin and his girlfriend stepped into the living room.

"You guy's are so lame" Justin laughed, causing Nora to take a swig straight from the wine bottle she had been serving.

"That's okay mom, I had my secretary book me into a retreat a couple miles down the road, while we were changing, that should give you all some extra breathing room" Aaron announced.

"That's nonsense, you're staying here with us" Nora persisted.

"But mom, there really aren't enough beds, unless you want him to sleep on the couch" Kevin stated flatly.

"It's really fine, it's a five star retreat and I reserved a suite with a Jacuzzi" Aaron laughed.

"Jacuzzi! Can I join you?" Kitty questioned.

* * *

There were several hours of conversation followed by an impromptu meal of canned goods by Nora, it was midnight when Aaron finally left the ranch and checked into his room. The first thing he did was step out onto the balcony where the Jacuzzi was situated. He quickly stripped off his clothes and melted into the warm water. It was heaven, all the tension of the day just melted away. However something at the back of his mind kept pushing its way to the surface. It was Scotty. Aaron still had feelings for this man, even though the man was now involved with his brother, they were feelings he could not bury.

Aaron finally fell asleep on his bed at 2am, his mind agonizing over his love. He was caught between a rock and a hard place, it seemed. On the one had he wanted both his brother and Scotty to be happy, but on the other, he wanted Scotty to himself, and in order for that to happen he would break his brothers heart.

By 6am Aaron was up like a lightning bolt and immediately went outside for his morning run.

At 7:30am Aaron's phone rang.

"Hello" Aaron answered, his voice strained with determination for the last league of his run.

"Honey, you better get your tush over here, I'm making pancakes for the family!" The voice he recognized as his mother, announced.

"Mom its 7 30 in the morning, it's not even a school day" Aaron half joked.

"The early bird gets the worm, look outside its a beautiful day you have to come over now" Nora pressed.

"I know, im doing my morning run and its beautiful, at this rate I'll get to the ranch in about 5 minutes" Aaron replied.

"So where is Aaron?" Kevin questioned from the breakfast table.

"Still in bed I hope. Does anyone want to admit to being the one that snores like a freight train?" Sarah remarked as she came into the kitchen and threw off her gloves. "I'm looking at you Kevin"

"It's Kitty, Kitties the one" Kevin answered.

"I don't snore" Kitty quipped back.

"Aaron said he'd be here in five minutes" Nora explained.

"He must've already been on his way then" Kitty questioned.

"Yes, he said he was doing his morning run" Nora replied.

"Morning run? Isn't the nearest anything like 15 miles away" Tommy asked.

"Oh my god" Nora gasped as she saw Aaron running down the main drive way. "He actually did run here"

"No freaking way" Kevin remarked, as he and everyone else stood to get a better vantage.

"Well that explains the body" Sarah remarked as Aaron came to rest near the front entrance and began stretching.

"Yah you should've seen him up close and shirtless yesterday, it was Hot. If he weren't my brother and gay, I'd totally go there" Kitty smirked.

"Oh come on, I could have a body like that if I had as much free time as he does, and you know what they say, guys with perfect bodies are horrible in the sack" Kevin defended.

"Maybe in your dreams, face it Kevin some people are just genetically pre disposed" Sarah argued "What do you think Scotty?"

Everyone's eyes turned to rest on Scotty.

"He's actually great in the Sack" Scotty smirked "but I love your body Kevin"

"Oh Thanks" Kevin sighed.

"Will we please stop talking about your brother like he's a piece of meat" Nora finally put in.

"Yum, Pancakes" Aaron stated as he finally entered the kitchen after his stretches.

"Oh here dear" Nora stated as she placed a stack on a plate for him "You must be famished after that run"

"Did you really run all the way from the retreat?" Sarah questioned.

"Yup, 22.6 miles, I like to pull at least 15 in the mornings, but I just knew mom would be making something delicious for breakfast so I needed to burn the extra calories" Aaron smiled.

"Well, I'm glad at least one of my children appreciates my pancakes" Nora replied.

"Thank you for the pancakes mom" Kevin mocked.

"Yah thank you mom" the others replied.

"Too little too late" Nora laughed, and proceeded to pour cream and syrup on Aaron's Pancakes.

As Aaron sat down to eat his richly deserved breakfast, Tommy insistently asked Kevin to help him with a tractor. He completely ignored Justin who volunteered to help him and ultimately Kevin was forced to go outside with him. Justin soon-after snuck away with his girlfriend to find some tree house, while Sarah and her husband had disappeared to the attic to search for relics of their youth. Aaron had decided to run back home in order to shower and be better prepared for the day and soon after breakfast began his return journey to the retreat.

When he returned a short time later, Nora and Dave had finished removing the panel from the wall, and so she decided to give him a tour of the ranch along with a history of everything that had happened on the property.

With so much history and memories associated with the place, Aaron couldn't for the life of himself, figure out why they were selling the place. Every time he asked, the question would be deflected in some way.

* * *

Soon it was dinner time and Aaron sat patiently at the table while his mother served another fabulous meal which he and Scotty had aided in the preparation. It was a very rare thing for Aaron to have a home cooked meal, and so he savoured every bite.

About halfway through the meal heated words began to be exchanged between his siblings. Primarily it was between Kevin and Tommy, but egged on by Sarah for some unknown reason. Soon the truth came out, Tommy was apparently infertile, and had asked Kevin for his sperm. Justin had offered his, but was shot down, and Sarah was berating Kevin for his decision. When the view was asked of Scotty, he simply said he didn't agree with Kevin's decision, at which point Kevin completely shut him down. Scotty then asked to leave the table, at which point everyone except the 5 siblings and their mother left with him.

Aaron stayed for a moment longer as his mother came to the rescue and put everyone in their place. However a comment by Sarah caught Aaron's attention and he decided to pursue it.

"Ojai is in trouble?" Aaron commented as everyone else had stopped talking "Mom why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to have to worry about the family" Nora explained.

"You said I'm part of the family, please let me know what's happening, maybe I can help?" Aaron asked.

"You want to you help?" Sarah almost shouted.

"Sarah" Nora warned.

"Mom no, he should know what he's stepped into here with this family" Sarah pressed.

"Tell me" Aaron pressed.

"Your father, your biological father, embezzled 15 million dollars out of Ojai foods. We now have to sell almost everything in order to keep the company running, but at this rate there won't be anything left of the company. "

Aaron couldn't help but laugh "Fifteen million dollars, all this stress and worry about 15 million dollars?" he stated.

His siblings stared at him as though he had lost his mind, but Aaron simply pulled out his cheque book and wrote out a cheque to Sarah.

"Here" he finally said breaking the silence that had descended over the family.

Sarah picked up the paper and looked at it disbelieving "This is a cheque for fifteen million dollars" she gasped.

"Life is too short and precious to stress about money" Aaron stated.

"You're joking right? This cheque is fake right?" Kevin pressed.

"I assure you it's real and there are sufficient funds in that account" Aaron answered.

"How?" Kitty questioned.

"My father left it to me when he died" Aaron explained.

"That's your money, we can't accept it" Nora sighed.

"Look, what my father did 24 years ago destroyed my life and robbed me of a family. If what he left behind can restore my family, then its better off with you than sitting in a silly bank account" Aaron replied. "Please take the money"

Sarah and Tommy looked pleading to their mother.

"Okay, thank you Aaron, we will pay you back, wont we" she replied, giving sharp looks to both Sarah and Tommy.

"No" Aaron interjected "The money is yours, if you have to pay it back it will change the nature of our relationship and I just don't want that happening. It's yours, not strings attached"

"Thank you" Sarah replied, the weight of the world falling off both hers and Tommy's shoulders.

"Now Tommy, it may not be exactly the same as Kevin's but if you need a donor I have pretty much the same DNA as the rest of you, however I would recommend you patch things up with Justin because you three are the closest thing I have to brothers" Aaron offered before standing up and leaving the table.

As he reached the living room he found Scotty standing with his suit case waiting for Warren to finish packing. Aaron walked up to Scotty and placed a consoling arm around him. "I'm sorry about what Kevin said in there, I wish I had never left" he confessed.

"I wish you hadn't left too, and after what happened tonight I don't think I'll ever forgive Kevin" Scotty answered.

"Come with me to New York" Aaron pleaded.

"For how long?" Scotty questioned.

"Six months, six more months and I'll be free to move back to Pasadena permanently!" Aaron explained.

Scotty looked up into Aaron's eyes and in that moment made his decision "YES" he replied and kissed him deeply. The two then disappeared from the Ranch, and headed to Aarons suite.

* * *

Sunday morning was a blur of activity on the ranch. Warren had left the night before, and Scotty had stayed with Aaron, however the house was still packed to the rafters with people. Sarah pulled up a chair with a huge smile on her face.

"It cleared" she gasped, while everyone returned a blank stare at her.

"What cleared?" Nora inquired.

"Aaron's cheque, it cleared. I went down to the bank this morning, had to go two towns over to find one open. Talked to the teller and it cleared right away" Sarah explained.

"Then it's all done, we don't have to sell the ranch" Nora laughed with joy "Dave, we're going to have to put that panel back in!"

"Where is Aaron anyway? He should be here celebrating with us. I say we stay another night and throw a huge party tonight!" Sarah pressed.

"He's at his retreat, with Scotty, they were probably up all night having sex" Kevin stated cynically.

"Kevin you can't blame Aaron for what happened with Scotty, which was entirely your fault" Kitty pressed.

"Yeah I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like that they're doing the horizontal tango while I slept alone last night" Kevin replied.

"That's odd, I've been calling both Scotties and Aarons numbers and it just keeps ringing" Nora remarked.

"Why don't we drive out there and surprise them with breakfast" Kitty offered, quickly jumping up and preparing plates.

"That's a great idea kitty, Tommy we'll need to borrow your car" Nora ordered.

* * *

Scotty and Aaron had woken up early and gone for a jog that morning. They didn't travel nearly as far as Aaron had the previous morning, and returned to the room, where after much heavy petting the pair made their way onto the balcony where the Jacuzzi was located, and let the whiles of the world pass them by. From the safety of the balcony they could easily ignore their ringing cell phones, and the buzzing room phone by the receptionist who at that moment was being harassed by Nora and Kitty.

Scotty had just playfully removed the last article of his clothes and was basking nude in the warmth of the water, trying his best to nudge Aarons shorts off with his toes. Little did they know that outside their room, the pair of misfits had wrangled their way past the receptionist and convinced a cleaning lady to open Aarons room.

Meanwhile Scotty had successfully removed Aarons shorts, and to better accommodate what was to happen next, Aaron had pushed himself up onto the edge of the Jacuzzi exposing his nakedness to the sheltered balcony.

Nora and Kitty had made their way into the suite and begun systematically checking the room for signs of life. "Can you believe the size of this suite" Nora gasped, caught between frustration and awe.

"Well they're not in either of the rooms, or the bathroom, or Oh my god is that a dining room and kitchen?" Nora went off on a tangent as she explored the apartment sized suite.

"Did you check out the bathroom, I could live in that bathroom" Kitty giggled.

"This place must have cost a fortune" Nora sighed.

"Well I think he can afford it" Kitty snickered "I mean he just cut a cheque for 15 million dollars that cleared without a waiting period. Only someone with diamond class ratings could clear funds that fast... oh lets try the balcony, he said something about a Jacuzzi."

Kitty stepped out onto the balcony and froze in horror at the sight of her brother, completely naked receiving fallatio from Scotty. Thankfully her obstruction had stopped her mother from seeing it too.

"KITTY" Aaron screamed yanking his member out of his lovers mouth and tossing a towel around himself. Meanwhile Scotty feeling equally embarrassed grabbed a towel of his own.

"What's going on out there" Nora questioned from behind Kitty.

"MOM stay inside" Kitty yelled.

"I'm so sorry" Kitty apologized," we'll wait for you inside", she backed out slowly leaving Scotty and Aaron to stare at each other.

A few seconds after Kitty had retreated Aaron burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny" Scotty punched him playfully.

"You got to admit, its freaking hilarious" Aaron retorted "she'll be scared for life"

"Wow you really are a Walker" Scotty smirked and kissed Aaron on the lips before getting into a robe.

Robes firmly in place the pair walked into the suite to find Nora and Kitty standing quietly around the breakfast bar where 2 plates of pancakes awaited them.

"I am so sorry" Kitty reiterated.

"it's okay Kitty, actually I feel like I should apologize to you, the image of your brother getting head is not something you want burnt into your brain." Aaron replied.

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have barged my way in here, It's just that when you two weren't picking up your phones I wanted to be sure you'd still come back to the ranch. We're throwing a party tonight." Nora explained.

"A party?" Scotty questioned.

"Yes, we're celebrating not having to sell the place thanks to you Aaron" Kitty smiled.

"Scotty, would you be okay with a party?" Aaron questioned "I'm not going unless you're going"

"No pressure then" Scotty smirked, as Nora gave him pleading looks. "Okay I'll go"

"Great, you two finish up breakfast, then we'll head into town for some supplies!"Nora finished.

The foursome dropped off Tommy's car and then headed into town together. Their first stop was a winery where they picked up several crates of wine, followed shortly by a liquor store where various types of alcohol were purchased.

"Okay, so we've got enough booze to feed a small country, will there actually be any food at this party?" Aaron commented randomly.

"Actually I wouldn't mind cooking a dish myself" Scotty added "If thats okay with you Mrs Walker?"

"Of course it is" Nora swallowed hard, in reality she didn't like anyone else cooking in her kitchen.

"You're interested in cooking?" Aaron questioned.

"Well yeah, I sometimes stand in for a sue chief downtown, that's actually the only thing I'll miss about moving to New York" Scotty replied.

"NEW YORK?" both Kitty and Nora yelled in unison "You're moving to New York?"

"Yes, I'm going to be with Aaron for six months before we move back to Pasadena" Scotty replied.

"Scotty you know, if you love cooking, a friend of mine owns a restaurant in New York, I'm sure I can arrange for an apprenticeship with one of his top chiefs?" Aaron offered.

"Oh my god that would be amazing" Scotty replied.

"Ill put in a call tonight, you' could probably start next week" Aaron finished.


	2. Chapter 2

Scotty and Aaron stepped into the black limo and headed for the airport. It was still a good 30 minutes from LAX and the pair was getting very comfortable. Soon the car ground to a halt and Paige McCuller stepped inside, startling Scotty.

"Um hello" Scotty announced to new arrival.

Paige starred the man up and down before replying "Nice to meet you"

"I'm sorry, Paige this is Scotty, my boyfriend, and Scotty this is Paige my secretary" Aaron announced.

Paige had flown down at the last minute to brief Aaron on all the company business he had let slip over the weekend. She was more than a little dubious about her bosses boyfriend. Yes everyone knew he was gay, but he had never openly showed it, or let it interfere with business matters in the past.

"Honey, why is your secretary here?" Scotty whispered into his boyfriends ear.

"She needs to brief me on some business matters during the flight" Aaron replied "Don't worry, it won't take too long".

Aaron was about to reply when Paige pulled out an amazing device. It was a clear sheet of glass, less than a centimetre thick yet on its surface was project documents. "Wow what is that" he gasped.

Paige handed the tablet to her boss after opening several documents on its surface "That is what Mr Smith has been neglecting this weekend" she stated sternly.

Aaron did not care for Paige's attitude toward Scotty, but at the moment the documents had his attention. It seemed that while he was at the Ranch, his team had completed the design of the new Atomic particle, and had begun preliminary attempts at fabricating the scaffolding. "Were any of the attempts successful?" he questioned, while quickly flipping through pages upon pages of diagrams and results.

"Unfortunately not" Paige replied "It seems that outside the adamantine structure, the particles have no cohesiveness and undergo spontaneous fission"

"Fission?" Scotty interjected "I thought u were working on protecting people, not blowing them up!"

Aaron turned and kissed Scotty on the lips, "One of the materials we're making is much more dense than anything that exists in nature. When it falls apart it undergoes fission, but it's not nearly as destructive as a nuclear bomb, and the amount of material we're talking about would release no more energy than a light bulb"

"Oh" Scotty remarked as Aaron pulled away from him.

Aaron placed the device in sleep mode "Thank you for the update I'll read it on the plane" he informed Paige. Paige looked as though she was going to object but was silenced mid stream by a stern look from Aaron.

"Yes sir" she remarked shyly, and remained silent for the remainder of the ride to the airport.

As the car approached the departure terminal of LAX, Scotty was fully prepared to disembark and make his way through the bustling crowd. However when Aaron told him to stay seated as Paige left the car, he was utterly confused. He was even more confused when the Limo left the departure zone with the two of them still inside.

"Um Aaron, aren't we supposed to be hopping on a plane?" he questioned sheepishly.

"We are, just not the same one as Paige" he answered with a sweet smile. "Could you imagine how much of a buzz kill four and half hours on plane alone with her would be?"

"But then how are we getting there?" Scotty pressed before watching the driver take a turn into a private hanger.

When the car came to a stop Scotty realized what was happening "We're taking a private plane" ,he gasped.

Aaron nodded "Company perk" he laughed as he escorted Scotty up the ramp, while an attendant loaded their luggage.

* * *

The inside of the plane was luxurious to the say the least. On one side there was a plush white sofa while on the other were four reclining seats that faced each other. The pair sat side by side in their reclining seats and put on their seat belts, while a male attendant served the pair drinks. Aaron placed the tablet he had received earlier, on the chair opposite him, and placed his arm around Scotty.

"This is just beautiful" Scotty stammered, nuzzling up against Aaron while the plane began its ascent into the heavens.

"let's watch a movie and cuddle" Aaron suggested.

"You read my mind" Scotty laughed, mimicking the words he used on their first night together.

Aaron asked the attendant for some privacy, before the pair made love for the next hour.

* * *

After an hour of quite, and not so quite love making, Scotty fell asleep. Aaron couldn't blame him, it was very late, and he still needed to go over the data on the tablet. As quietly as he could, Aaron slipped out from under the covers of the Sofa that had transformed into a bed, and took up residence in the furthest reclining seat. The lights in the cabin had dimmed, so he was sure to keep the tablet facing away from Scotty while he reviewed page after page of test results.

It wasn't until three hours into the flight that something in the report caught his attention. He quickly picked up his phone and called Brian, routing video communications through his tablet.

The image of a very sleepy Brain took shape on the tablet "You do realize its three o clock in the morning" the man stated wearily.

"Science doesn't recognize time zones" Aaron retorted with a smile.

"This better be good" the man half heartedly laughed in reply.

"I don't know, why don't you take a look" Aaron pressed a button streaming data from his tablet to Brian's.

It took a few minutes for Brain's mind to boot up, and few more minutes for him to absorb what Aaron had sent him.

"Oh my god, is this even possible?" Brain shouted over the communications link, a little more loudly than he had intended.

Aaron froze for a moment as he heard rustling from the bed, when all was quite again he continued "Yes, I went through the equations a hundred times, all we need is the facilities at MIT, we should be able to start fabrication in a matter of days"

"Where are you now?" Brian questioned.

"I'm on my way back to New York, I'll be there in about two hours, can you make preparations for the fabrication? I've got some personal stuff to deal with" Aaron replied.

"You mean your boyfriend" Brian pressed "Paige told me about him, seriously you're dating a cater waiter and part time sue chief, you know you can do a whole lot better than that. You completed undergrad by age 14 and had 4 PHD's by the time you were 20!"

Aaron's eyes burned with anger "And that makes me too good for him?" he shouted sarcastically "Paige had no right to say anything and frankly neither do you" he almost yelled.

"I'm sorry Aaron, but your father asked me to look after you before he died, and I'm not sure this Scotty person is in your best interest" Brian admitted.

"You know what, stay out of my personal business, and tell Paige if she values her job she'll keep out of it too" Aaron yelled and promptly ended the communication.

As the fury began to burn cold, and Aaron became aware of his surroundings once again, he could hear choked sniffles coming from the bed. He walked over to find Scotty balled up in tears.

"You were listening" Aaron sighed, gently laying down next to the man he loved and embracing him. "I'm so sorry".

"But its true isn't it" Scotty sobbed "I'm not good enough for you, heck I'm not even good enough for you brother"

Aaron placed a finger on Scotty's lips "No", he whispered, "we're human, and we're in love, that's all that matters, that's all that should ever matter".

Scotty smiled and kissed Aaron. Kevin had made him feel less than a man, but Aaron loved him as an equal, and had shown it time and again.

* * *

Two weeks had gone by rather fast, Scotty and Aaron had settled into the rhythm of New York city, caught up in the hustle and bustle of a world that never sleeps. Scotty was now a sue-chief, working under one of New York's finest. Aaron had successfully completed the meta materials he had been working on.

It was a rather quite evening at their apartment building. Scotty had returned home early to find Aaron seated in front of the TV, already nodding off to sleep. He found that Aaron had made it a point to watch his sister Kitty's show, red white and blue, even though it played at ungodly hours on the East coast.

"You're home!" Aaron gasped in surprise, not expecting his boyfriend to return for at least another hour.

"Yah, the restaurant closed early tonight, Chief Morell had a prior engagement, or so he says" he laughed as he pulled a bottle of wine from the rack "Would you like a glass?"

"Actually yeah" Aaron answered, and gingerly kissed Scotty as he brought him his wine.

"Kitty's going to be on soon" Scotty announced, snuggling up to his boyfriend.

"Yup, she's doing an interview with some Senator Robert McCallister, something about him having an affair with a nanny" Aaron explained.

"A Senator having an affair, really?" Scotty laughed.

"I know... oh its starting" Aaron replied as his sister took the centre stage.

The interview was nothing like what Aaron had expected.

"Oh my God Aaron, what are we going to do?" Scotty asked seriously.

Aaron immediately picked up his phone and made a call "Prep the plane, we're going to California ASAP" he said sternly and quickly hung up. He then turned to Scotty "Will you come with me?" he questioned.

"Of course, ill just get someone to cover my shifts for the next few days" Scotty answered, quickly pulling out his own phone, while Aaron arranged transport to the airport.

* * *

"Aaron, Scotty what are you two doing here?" Nora questioned at the sudden arrival of the pair.

Aaron stormed into the house, a trail of fury following him "Justin is being recalled, Kitty almost destroy's her career, and no one tells me?"

"I'm sorry son, I just didn't want to worry you and Scotty, after all you've got your project you need to finish" Nora explained, while Kitty and Justin both entered the room.

"Aaron" Kitty greeted, reaching out and hugging him, and then hugging Scotty "What brings the pair of you out West?"

"We were watching Red White and Blue" Scotty explained "And headed straight over here"

"Why didn't anyone call me? I thought we settled this at the Ranch, if something major affects the family then I should hear about it!" Aaron questioned.

"We didn't want to worry you, and besides there's nothing you can do" Kitty retorted.

Aaron shook his head "I have over 100 billion dollars worth of military contracts running through my department, I have contacts with over a dozen generals, congressmen, senators and even the white house, any one of whom could have made this recall disappear" he shouted.

Nora's eyes went wide with shock "You can keep Justin here?" she stuttered.

"Yes, well I could have, I'm not sure anymore" Aaron replied truthfully.

"What do you mean why wouldn't you be able to now?" Nora pleaded.

Aaron stared at kitty with a knowing look.

Kitty stepped forward "because of me" she explained.

"I don't understand" Nora pressed.

"I admitted to taking a bribe for the senator, if Justin's recall were to be dismissed it would look like the bribe came from his office. No one is going to take that risk." Kitty explained.

"I'm sorry Justin" Aaron apologized.

"No it's my fault, why did I have to air that apology" Kitty replied.

"We should have told Aaron the moment we found out, this is my fault for trying to hide it from him, for trying to make us look like the perfect family" Nora cried.

"No, this is no one's fault but mine" Justin admitted "I was the one who signed up for the army, you all did your best to try and stop me, I took responsibility and it was the worst and best decision I ever made. Now I have to live with the consequences"

Nora turned to Aaron "I'm sorry Son, I'll never keep anything from you again" she stated flatly "And you are staying for thanks giving, it'll be the first without William and the possibly the last with Justin"

"Of course" both Scotty and Aaron replied in unison.

* * *

After thanksgiving Aaron and Scotty had returned to New York and returned to their life as usual. The only difference this time was the inordinate amount of phone calls he was now receiving from family members.

"Bro, please you got to do something about the family, they keep coming up here and telling me things, and every time I open my mouth it starts a fight" Justin confessed at mid afternoon from his rehab facility.

"I'm 3000 miles away, I wish there was something I could do" Aaron replied over the phone "Plus, you're not the only one getting an information overload from the family, I've fielded about 8 calls so far about Ojai, and Holly, and of course Mom"

"I guess you're regretting being a Walker now" Justin laughed.

"Never" Aaron admitted "Oh and I'm sorry I won't be able to make it for the family thing, though you really have nothing to apologize to me about"

"That's true, you know you would've been a cool brother growing up" Justin confessed.

"I just hope you get back safely. I'll be there for your party though, that's for certain!" Aaron answered before hanging up.

Barely ten minutes after hanging up Sarah called. "What happened now?" Aaron sighed.

"It's Holly, that woman is driving me crazy, you know she actually brought a proposal to the board to start another business" Sarah gasped "Without consulting either me or Tommy, and of course she made mom look like a fool."

"Why did you let her into the company in the first place?" Aaron questioned.

"It was the only way to recover the 15 million dollars we owe you, by the way the cheque should've been couriered to your office" Sarah stated.

"I told you it was not a loan, you should've kept the 15 million, and just froze Holly out with the land, she wouldn't have gotten anything and you'd still be in the clear" Aaron stated "I'm not going to cash the cheque, soon as it arrives I tearing it up. Why don't you use the money to expand the company?"

"Well I guess we could use the money to fund the winery, and pawn Holly off on that venture, that should at least keep her out of our hair" Sarah laughed.

"Do it" Aaron pressed.

"Thanks again little brother" Sarah replied before hanging up.

Aaron returned his attention to his work, it was now almost complete, the fabrication of the meta materials was perfect, and the integration into the new chassis was flawless. He ran his finger over the surface of the very compact device, it was barely the size of matchbook, with the thickness of a credit card.

"We're ready for field testing" Brian announced, snapping Aaron out of his thoughts. The pair was on rather rocky terms after the video conference a few weeks earlier.

"Start it up" Aaron ordered, retreating to the safety of the observation window.

A technician took the metal device and placed it on a dummy made of ballistic gel that would simulate flesh. Upon activation, several rounds of fire from a small fire arm were directed at the subject, every single shot was absorbed by the shield, causing the rounds to fall harmlessly to the floor.

"its working" Brian commented looking at the raw telemetry data.

"No, look at the thermal readings, it's not dissipating" Aaron stated as the camera zoomed in on the device. The damage was self evident as the area of flesh around the device was burnt charcoal. "Conservation of energy and momentum. All that kinetic energy is being transformed into thermal energy, and without a heatsink its causing the internal temperature of the device to burn"

"Why weren't we having this problem with the larger model?" Brian questioned.

"The larger model had a much greater surface area on which to dissipate the heat" Aaron replied "give me a few days to inspect the device"

"Our deadlines in 5 months, if we don't solve this issue in the next two weeks, we won't meet the deadline" Brain pressed "that means I need you here 24/7 until it's done, not running off with your boyfriend for weekend trips to Pasadena"

Aaron looked at Brian with outrage "I think you've got the wrong Idea" Aaron pressed.

"Oh really, according to the accounting department that's exactly what you've been doing. What did he do, convince you to run away for the weekend, instead of working on this project?" Brian pushed back.

"Look here, what I do with my money, and MY company assets has nothing to do with you. In case you didn't realize, I am director here not you which means you technically work for me. So shut it and stay out of my personal life, or I'll come down on you like a ton of bricks, and when I'm through there won't be enough pieces left over to recognize you" Aaron yelled and stormed out of the building.

Aaron drove for hours, in no particular direction, but for some reason he came to a stop in front of Scotty's restaurant. He stepped out of his car and went inside, slipping past the bustle of people waiting for tables, he slipped into the kitchen where he found Scotty in the throws of making a dish. He stood there for several minutes just admiring his boyfriend's determination and attention to detail. As the dish finally went out Scotty spotted him standing silently in the distance, and bound across the kitchen to hug him.

The pair kissed briefly before Scotty finally spoke "What wrong?" he questioned.

"I'm going on my break" he yelled to the chief, who recognized the situation and allowed the pair to slip out the back of the building.

"Stress at work's getting to me" Aaron confessed "I got into an argument with Brain"

"About me" Scotty asked.

Aaron nodded "He's such an ass, I'm two seconds away from firing him, but that would set the project back several months"

"Just don't take anything he says to heart, you know what you feel inside, and you know how I feel about you, don't let anyone take that away" Scotty soothed "Now I finish in an hour, how about you get totally drunk at the bar, and I'll drive you home?"

Aaron laughed "Only if you get drunk with me, let's go out clubbing tonight" he pressed.

* * *

Aarons phone rang waking him from his alcohol induced stupor "Hello" he stammered as he stumbled out of bed, tripping over a mangle of clothes on the floor. "Ouch"

"Are you okay?" Justin's voice questioned on the other end of the phone.

"Yah I'm fine" Aaron replied, righting himself just as Scotty started to stir awake.

"What time is it?"Scotty murmured from the bed.

Aaron smiled and moved towards his boyfriend, carefully pecking him on the lips "I had fun last night" he laughed.

"Guy's please I'm still on the phone" Justin shouted, breaking Aarons attention from his boyfriend.

"Ah, sorry Justin, what can I do for you this morning?" Aaron questioned.

"You've got to do something about Holly, Sarah came up here last night and said something about her turning Tommy's vote on the board against her" Justin confessed.

"And what do you think I can do from 3000 miles away?" Aaron stated.

"I don't know, put a hit on her if you have too, but at the very least could you please talk some sense into Tommy?" Justin pleaded.

"Okay, I'll call you back later" Aaron hung up.

Scotty sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, his head throbbing from all the alcohol the pair had consumed the night before. "Do you remember what happened last night?" he stammered.

Aaron laughed "Every minute of it, and I loved it" he answered "You're so adorable when you're drunk, and kinky too"

Scotty's face turned pale "Kinky, oh my god what did we do?" he playfully shouted as he jumped out of bed and tackled Aaron to the floor.

"Wow, I don't think we've ever done it with you on top" Aaron laughed as Scotty pinned him to the floor.

"Well then we're going to have to remedy that" Scotty smiled seductively as he planted a kiss on Aaron's mouth.

Both parties froze instantly with a distasteful look on their faces. "Okay lets brush our teeth first" Scotty sighed as he released his captive, and the pair headed for the bathroom.

* * *

After freshening up, and a lot of fooling around in the bathroom, the pair finally emerged to the light of day. It was already 1pm, and Aaron was starting to throw on his suit when his phone rang. Checking the caller ID he found his sister Sarah's name splayed across the display.

"Sarah, what can I do you for?" Aaron questioned.

"Please you've got to talk some sense into Tommy, he just told me he's going to vote with Holly on this winery venture" She announced rapidly.

"I thought you were going to purchase the winery anyway and pawn Holly off on it?" Aaron asked.

"Well we where, when it was a good investment, but another party just put in a bid and now the asking price is almost double what it was before" Sarah stated.

"And I guess with the economy, it's too much of a risk for the company?" Aaron completed.

"Exactly" Sarah replied.

"Then why is Tommy still voting with Holly, surely you've explained the risk to him?" Aaron pressed.

"Well Holly went and fed Tommy some line about Dad wanting to buy the winery for him to run. He's never liked that dad put me in charge over him" Sarah confessed.

Aaron shook his head, a gesture that didn't quite carry over the phone line "If it's his dream to run a business, why not let him?"

"I'm just looking out for the family business, I don't want us over expanding and then running into some major debt down the line, especially in this recession" Sarah explained.

"Okay, well why don't you give me a couple hours to set a few things in motion, and I'll see if I can sort Holly out" Aaron stated, then hung up the phone.

As Aaron put on his jacket and straightened his tie, he walked into the kitchen to find Scotty digging through the trash. "Um what are you doing?" he questioned with a smirk on his face.

"I was getting ready to throw out the trash" Scotty confessed.

"Well doesn't that involve pulling the string ties?" Aaron laughed.

"Well smarty pants, it would be that simple if you remembered to separate your recyclables" Scotty shot back as he pulled several cans from the trash bag.

Aaron froze in contemplation, his brain going through calculations at the speed of light. Recycling, that is what his project needed.

Scotty had noticed his boyfriend disappear into thoughts and quickly finished up with the trash while Aaron just stood there with a blank look on his face, as his mind seemed to race outside his body. When he returned a few minutes later he was oddly disturbed that Aaron still hadn't moved, and so he stepped in close and kissed him on the lips. That action swiftly brought Aaron out of his thoughts and a massive smile stretched across his face.

"You just solved the heating problem" Aaron shouted, and kissed his lover one last time before darting out the door.

"You're welcome" Scotty shouted after him, as the door slid shut.

* * *

In the design lab Aaron quickly uploaded the spec's he had been designing on the ride over, into the main computer. In minutes it had completed his design and begun fabrication of the recycling module. It was a rather simple concept, the device would be coated with a phosphorous that allowed electrons to flow into a second conductive plate, when exposed to heat. The thermal energy was thus turned into electro potential energy in capacitor space between the materials. The capacitor would then discharge into the kinetic absorption field, essentially recycling the energy from the first impact to absorb consecutive impacts. The results were amazing to say the least, allowing the device to never deplete its energy reserve. This was something far more powerful than what the military had contracted for.

As the completed module appeared before him, Aaron couldn't help but laugh at the irony of Brain's previous comments concerning Scotty. If it wasn't for Scotty, the project may never have been completed.

Aaron handed the completed device over to a technician while he began making several phone calls to California. It was 4pm by the time field testing was complete and the results were promising.

"You did it" Brian commented as he broke open a bottle of Champaign and begun pouring glasses for everyone in the room. "How did you ever come up with the concept, I mean recycling the energy, it's so simple"

"Believe it or not, Scotty gave me the idea" Aaron confessed.

"I see" Brian replied with a stern look on his face.

* * *

Sarah was quietly contemplating the latest board meeting, where Tommy and Holly had joined forces in order to overthrow her decision not to buy the winery. She had hoped that Aaron would've been able to persuade Tommy to back down, but none the less the board sided with her and the sale fell through. She was startled a few moments later as the door to her office flew open and both Holly and Tommy strode in.

"Well you finally got rid of me" Holly shouted "I knew it was a matter of time before you Walker's screwed me, just like your father"

"What is she talking about?" Sarah asked clearly confused.

"I don't know either, she's been screaming at me for the past 20 minutes" Tommy answered.

"What I'm talking about?" Holly screamed "What I'm talking about is your brother Aaron"

Both Tommy and Sarah perked up at the mention of their brother "The bastard sent over a lawyer with a contract to buy my five million dollars worth of Ojai foods, and pushed the deal through by offering enough money for me to buy the winery."

"What!" both Holly and Tommy shouted back.

"And that's not the kicker, the kicker is that as soon as I took the offer, and sold him my shares of Ojai for 8 million dollars, his lawyer closed a deal and bought out the winery right from under me" Holly continued.

"Wow" was all Sarah could muster.

"I hope your families happy, you finally kicked me out of the family business, and usurped MY business idea" Holly yelled.

"Well, in honesty that was dad's business idea" Tommy corrected "And since you no longer work for Ojai, or own any of its shares, I would suggest you leave the premise immediately before I call security"

Both he and Sarah broke out laughing the moment the door closed behind Holly.

"Oh my god, what did Aaron do?" Sarah gasped.

"I don't know, but whatever he did, it was totally worth the look on Holly's face, I wish we had a video camera" Tommy replied.

"Let's get Aaron on the line" Sarah stated as she started dialling on speakerphone.

"Hey Sarah what's up" Aarons voice came over the speakerphone.

"Aaron, Holly just paid us a visit" Tommy announced.

"Ah, I take it she wasn't too pleased?" Aaron questioned.

"No, she was rather pissed off, what exactly did you do to her?" Sarah inquired.

"Well I sent my lawyer over to her, and offered to buy her stocks in the company, for 8 million dollars, figuring that after your board meeting turned her down, she would want that money to try and start the winery on her own. The moment she accepted the offer, my lawyer then went and purchased the winery out from under her, I figured that way we could piss Holly off, as well as get her out of the family business" Aaron explained.

"Genius, pure genius, but how could you afford to pay off Holly and purchase the land?" Sarah questioned "I thought u weren't going to cash in the cheque I mailed you"

Aaron laughed "Nope, never cashed the cheque, don't really need too, you didn't think my dad just left me with 15 million did you?"

"I see" Sarah laughed "Now that you own 5 million dollars worth of Ojai stock, you're officially part of the family business" she smiled.

"Actually, I hope you guys don't mind, but I put those shares under your mother's name, as part of your father's estate, that way they'll remain in the family. Also I put the winery under a new company called "Walker Landing", and named Tommy the CEO with fully equity ownership." Aaron announced.

"Oh my god" Tommy gasped.

"Sarah Told me about your fathers dream for you Tommy, this is your time to show him what you're made of" Aaron announced "Anyway guys, it's been awesome chatting with you but I've got to get back to work, I'll see you in a couple weeks for moms birthday"

As the phone went dead, Tommy and Sarah simply stood there in shocked silence.

* * *

Valentine's day was shortly around the corner, and Aaron could not wait for it this year. He had already bought Scotty an extremely expensive set of cookware that he had been talking about for the past 2 months. He had also made arrangements for the pair to fly back and have Valentine's in Los Angeles, at a party thrown by some of his friends. Unfortunately, due to the completion of the prototype, the meeting with the military had been moved up on the agenda, and this no longer became an option.

"I'm sorry honey, if I could move the meeting I would" Aaron explained during their lunch date.

"It's okay, I can catch up with my friends some other time" Scotty smiled.

Aaron felt extremely guilt ridden, because of him Scotty had left his life behind in Pasadena "No" he answered "The planes already booked, and everything's already arranged, go ahead without me"

"I can't leave you alone on Valentine's day" Scotty pressed.

Aaron shook his head "Of course you can, besides, I'll be in meetings and labs all week, you might as well go and have some fun"

"Okay" Scotty said reluctantly.

As Valentine's day rolled around Scotty found himself in Pasadena with his friend Michelle.

"So where's your boyfriend?" Michelle grilled him.

"He had to work" Scotty replied.

"Work on Valentine's day, but I thought you guys organized this trip months ago" Michelle pressed.

"Well he's a busy guy" Scotty answered solemnly.

"Hey, so Chad has this new gym buddy Kevin I want you to meet" Michelle proposed.

Scotty shook his head "No way I'm taken!" he replied.

"Oh come on, at least meet the guy, I swear you two would be a perfect fit" Michelle begged.

"No" Scotty continued to protest.

"Okay, fine, but you're still coming to the party tonight right, it's going to be huge!" She announced.

"I don't know, I was thinking of just having a quite night in" Scotty murmured.

"No freaking way, look I haven't seen you for almost 2 months, the least you can do is come drinking with me tonight. I'll introduce you to my boyfriend." She winked seductively.

"Fine, I do love his show, by the way, you think you can get me an autograph?" Scotty laughed.

Scotty and Michelle spent the rest of the evening getting ready for the party and going through about a dozen different outfits before deciding on the right one. The pair, and 4 other of their friends hopped in the Limo and speed off towards the party. In the limo things had started to get crazy as bottles of tequila started being passed around and everyone was doing shots.

By the time they reached the Party, Scotty was already thoroughly sloshed.

* * *

A loud buzzing filled the air as Scotty finally regained consciousness. He quickly scanned the room and was surprised to find himself in familiar surroundings, yet he couldn't quite place it. It wasn't until a very familiar voice's whispers drifted in from the bathroom did he realize where he actually was.

"KEVIN" he shouted.

Kevin slammed his phone shut and bound out of the bathroom.

"What the hell happened last night?" Scotty shouted.

"Um, well, we sort of slept together" Kevin admitted, guilt clearly plastered across his face.

"Oh my god, oh my god this is bad" Scotty stuttered as he rummaged around picking up his clothes, then stopped suddenly "You were whispering in the bathroom" he accused "Who where you talking too?"

Kevin fidgeted slightly "Well, umm Kitty" he announced.

Scotty slumped onto the bed and dropped his head into his hands, remorse and guilt flooding through him like tidal waves. "What are we going to do" he almost cried.

"Kitty thinks we have to tell Aaron" Kevin squeaked.

Scotty knew it was just a matter of time now until the news got back to Aaron.

"Why Kevin, why did we sleep together?" Scotty questioned.

Kevin shook his head "I don't know" he stuttered "I thought I still had feelings for you, until I realized I was doing it just to make Chad jealous" he confessed.

"And now I've destroyed my relationship with Aaron" Scotty finished, tears streaming down his face.

As Kevin was about to reply his phone started ringing. It was Chad.

"Did you sleep with him last night" Chad questioned over the phone, "I have to know"

"No, you don't want to know" Kevin admitted.

"I was going to tell her" Chad stammered "You know forget about" he hung up.

Kevin sat back down next to Scotty "There goes my relationship too".

* * *

Kitty couldn't believe her ears when Kevin had called, she had intended to tell him about her sleeping with the Senator, only to be shocked by the news of Kevin sleeping with Scotty. Just moments after she had hung up with Kevin, did her phone ring again, this time it was Sarah.

"You slept with him didn't you" Sarah stated flatly as Kitty answered.

"Yes, but shut up for a moment, we've got bigger problems" Kitty replied.

"What could be bigger than you sleeping with a Senator" Sarah laughed.

"Kevin sleeping with Scotty" Kitty replied seriously.

Sarah's levity evaporated "Don't even kid about that Kitty" she replied.

"I'm not kidding, I just got off the phone with Kevin, Scotty's still in his bed, and Kevin feels awful" Kitty stated.

"Well he should feel awful, he just slept with his brother's boyfriend" Sarah said harshly.

"What are we going to do?" Kitty questioned.

"I don't know, but someone has to tell Aaron, and worse, Mom" Sarah replied.

* * *

That afternoon, after Scotty had boarded his flight back to NYC, Sarah, Kitty and Kevin sat silently in their mothers kitchen. The tension in the air was thick almost palpable.

"What's going on?" Nora questioned as she walked into the kitchen. The three siblings were sitting, stone silent, something that never happened in her home.

Sarah finally took charge "Mom, Kevin has something he needs to tell you" she stated.

Nora turned her attention to her son and could read the guilty expression right off his face "Kevin what did you do?" she pressed.

Kevin gulped under the gaze of his mother "I slept with Scotty last night" he finally confessed.

All the blood drained from Nora's features as she took in the gravity of the situation. She knew exactly how much Aaron loved Scotty, he had confessed as much to her at the Ranch. This would devastate him, and she was afraid he would pull away from the family because of this.

"Oh no" Nora shook her head "Oh no no no no no" she pressed "No one is going to breathe a word of this to anyone, do you understand me?"

"But mom" Kitty protested "doesn't he have the right to know?"

"He may have the right to know, but I know damn well what is going to happen if you tell him" Nora answered angrily "I lost my son once and I'll be dammed if I'm going to lose him again because of this"

The three siblings could see the pain in their mother's eyes, and realized exactly what she was feeling.

"Mom, he needs to know" Sarah said firmly.

Nora shook her head as tears started to stream down her cheeks, her eyes transfixed on Kevin as if pleading with him. "No" she kept muttering over and over again.

"Mom I have to tell him" Kevin finally admitted.

Nora's eyes took on a fury that could have terrified anyone, and she pointed those eyes directly at Kevin causing him to cower "If he leaves I will never forgive you" she said flatly before storming out of the room.

* * *

Aaron sat at the head of the table as Brian completed the presentation for the 3 Generals present.

"So gentlemen there you have it" Brain finally ended.

"Well, thank you for the technical specifications, it's an amazing feat of technology you've achieved here. Now of course we have to get down to the bottom line, how much will these units cost" General Richards questioned.

It was Aarons turn to take over.

"Well general, as the contract stipulated, you requested a production cost of around 4 million dollars per unit. Unfortunately, because construction required the creation of an element that doesn't exist naturally in the universe, the cost of synthesizing this element has made each units production cost 4.3 million dollars. However, if the contract is to be extended, Vale Industries is willing to begin construction of a mass production facility which will drastically decrease production costs to roughly eight hundred thousand dollars per unit."

A murmur filled the room as the generals began whispering to one another. It was a few minutes before General Richard returned with a question "We'll take 10000 units at 8 million per unit. That should net you a tidy profit margin" The general announced, "once you get the mass production facility built, we'll talk about acquiring more units"

"Thank you General, Mr Stephens here will take care of any of your needs from here on out" Aaron replied.

Once the generals had vacated his office he slouched into his chair. He couldn't wait to return home, being apart from Scotty for just one night, left him feeling lonely.

He had just begun to relax when his phone rang, and picking up his phone he quickly read the name of the caller. "Kevin, what's up buddy, I hear from Kitty you've been sleeping with a celebrity" he joked.

"Um Aaron I have something important to say" Kevin replied, his voice completely serious.

"What's wrong Kevin" Aaron pressed.

"I got drunk last night, and I slept with Scotty" Kevin's word tore through the air like daggers, piercing Aarons heart.

Aaron slumped, stunned by why he had just heard. His insides felt completely hollow, and his blood was running cold, he was dead inside, his brother had killed his soul with those words.

"Aaron, are you there?" the voice on the other end of phone pleaded.

Aaron mustered what little strength he had left "What do you want me to say" he replied, his words icy.

"I'm sorry Aaron" Kevin pleaded, but by this time the phone had fallen from Aarons hand and slammed into the floor, while Aaron slumped into the chair, his mind switching off.

* * *

Two hours passed like seconds for Aaron as he sat there, caught in an emotional black hole for which there was no escape. Reaching inside himself, there was only one thing he wanted at that moment. His mother. Aaron retrieved the phone from the floor and ignored the 18 missed calls flashing across its surface. He quickly dialled his mother.

"Mom" he wept.

"Aaron, I've been trying to get hold of your for the past two hours, we all have" Aaron could hear tears in her voice.

"I need you" he cried.

"Where are you?" she questioned.

Aaron looked around, forgetting where he was "I'm in the lab" he replied.

"Stay right there I'm hopping on the next flight out!" Nora comforted.

Aaron hung up the phone and slumped back into his chair, the hours which had passed so quickly before now droned on eternally.

* * *

Scotty stepped into the apartment and searched high and low for Aaron. He had to let Aaron know what happened, and face whatever consequence came of it. But there was no sign of Aaron anywhere, there were rose petals sprinkled across the floor leading to a table setting for two. Aaron had obviously been planning a romantic surprise for his return, but he was nowhere in sight, and Scotty could come to only one conclusion. He knew.

Nora raced to the airport with Kitty in tow, her connections with the senator had afforded them priority bookings on the next flight to NYC. She pushed her way through crowded ticket counters, and even more crowded security barriers, almost landing herself in trouble on several occasions however thanks to Kitty these hurdles quickly disappeared.

In a record 5 and half hours they were in New York, at which time Kitty took command and guided them to Aarons office building.

"Stay here I'll talk to him" Nora ordered as they approached the conference room in which Aaron had barricaded himself for the past almost 8 hours.

"Aaron" she questioned, stepping into the dimly lit room.

"I'm here mom" Aaron replied from a corner where he lay curled up.

Nora knelt beside her son and hugged him.

All of Aarons anxieties melted away as his mother hugged him. This was the feeling he had missed since he was 8 years old.

"How could he do that to me?" Aaron cried.

"I don't know son, You know sometimes when I look back I cry too. How could the ones we love cheat on us?" Nora replied.

"I love him" Aaron whispered.

"Then it's a simple question, do you love him enough to keep on going?" Nora answered "There are too many hurdles in life, but as long as you know in your heart that its meant to be, then these hurdles aren't so insurmountable"

Aaron was comforted by her words, he was in love with Scotty, and he knew that no matter what, they were meant to be together, meant to grow old together and meant to love each other.

"Thank you mom, we need to go back to my place now" Aaron announced.

* * *

"Oh my god you live here?" Kitty commented as they finally came to a stop before Aarons apartment building.

Aaron nodded and led the pair into the elevator that shot up to the penthouse suite.

"You're in the penthouse!" Kitty gasped.

As they stepped out of the elevator into the Penthouse foyer, Nora was captivated by the window that opened onto a deck with a garden and swimming pool. "Please go ahead and look around, I'm going to see if Scotty's home" Aaron announced.

Aaron smiled as his mother gave him a heart filled look, before wondering out to the balcony with Kitty. He then turned down the main hallway and opened the master suites door. On the bed, sleeping like an angel he found Scotty, his cheeks stained with dried tears.

Aaron knelt beside his slumbering lover and gently wiped the tears away. Scotty's hand reached up cradled his, as Scotty's eyes opened. "You were crying" Aaron whispered as he leaned in to kiss Scotty.

After a few moments Scotty pulled back from the kiss "I have to tell you something" he whispered, and Aaron could see the sadness in his eyes.

Aaron shook his head "I already know, and I forgive you" he smiled and leaned back in to finish the kiss.

"I'm sorry" Scotty whispered again.

"I love you Scotty, no matter what happens I will always love you" Aaron confessed, just as he heard a crash outside the door.

"Oh my god someone's in the house" Scotty yelled and jumped out of bed.

Aaron laughed "It's mom and Kitty" he stated, and took Scotty by the hand, escorting him out into the living room where the commotion had come from.

"I'm sorry" Kitty shouted, as she pointed to a shattered crystal figurine on the floor. "I swear I barely nudged it"

"It's okay" Aaron laughed as he darted into the laundry room to get a dustpan.

"Kitty, Nora" Scotty nodded towards the pair. Both women smiled back, though cold reserved animosity was quite visible.

Aaron had picked up on the vibe "Come on guys, you've forgiven Kevin, go ahead and treat him like he's one of the family"

Nora shook her head "I don't know if I can do that after how he hurt you".

"I understand Nora" Scotty berated himself.

"It will take time, but don't worry, things will go back to normal" Kitty interjected "By the way, how much did that thing cost, I'll gladly reimburse you for it"

Aaron laughed "That was single cast crystal sculpture, my dad bought it for 1.4 million at auction last year"

Kitties eyes went wide "Oh my god, why on earth would have something that expensive laying around"

"Don't worry, I never liked the thing anyway, truthfully the room looks better without it" Aaron explained "Now you two, there a guest rooms down that wing, you're staying the night, and I'll get the plane to take you home tomorrow morning"

"What plane?" Nora questioned.

"Oh, the company plane, you'll love it" Scotty put in.

* * *

The following weeks flew by quickly, Aaron had been overseeing the fabrication of the 10,000 units ordered by the military, while Scotty had become swamped at work. Both were very glad that Nora's birthday was coming up around the corner. While Scotty had been making preparations for their trip, Aaron had been busy with his own preparations for new fabrication facility in California.

The design was nothing short of genius and somewhat revolutionary. Utilizing the pair production model found in the upper atmosphere thanks to cosmic rays, Aaron had found a way of creating large amounts of anti-matter as a side effect during the synthesizing of the artificial atom. The facility would now be able to generate almost 100 anti particles per unit fabrication, far greater numbers than even CERN could approach.

Coupling the technology, would lead to even further drastically reduced prices in unit fabrication, as anti-particles themselves were such a rare commodity. The only problem this now offered, was the legality of producing such admittedly dangerous material.

* * *

Kevin had barely entered the office when the managing partner of the firm, Robert Grant, slipped into his office.

"Sir, what can I do for you?" Kevin stuttered.

"I just wanted to say congratulations" Robert smirked.

Kevin stared at the man confused "Congratulations?" Kevin pressed.

"Yes, on landing the Vale Industries account? I understand that Aaron Smith is coming down this afternoon to sign the papers. He spoke very highly of you" Robert replied.

"Ah, I see, you do know he's my brother right?" Kevin stated.

Robert shrugged "Doesn't matter how you land the account, especially an account worth over 20 million in legal fees" Robert laughed "He's coming in at 2pm, be sure you're in the conference room to greet him" he added before slipping out the door.

Kevin was startled, he had barely talked to his brother since the incident, in fact he had tried to stay as far away from family as possible, which given his mother's birthday had been impossible.

* * *

"Kitty, what do you know about an Aaron Smith, of Vale Industries" Robert McCallister questioned the woman who was his communications officer and his lover.

"You mean the same Aaron I've been talking about for the last 2 months?" She replied smartly.

"Wait a minute" Robert shouted "Your Aaron Smith is, the, Aaron Smith of Vale industries"

Kitty looked at the man with confusion "I don't know about being 'the' Aaron Smith, but yes he works for Vale industries, director of R&D I believe, and he must make a lot of money, you should see his apartment"

"Kitty, listen to me, Aaron Smiths father was a 60 percent stake holder in Vale industries, when he passed away he left his shares to Aaron" Robert explained.

"Wow, so that's where all his money comes from" Kitty gasped.

"I don't think you understand, Aaron's mother owned 20 percent of the company before she died, and she also left her shares to Aaron" Robert further explained.

"Okay so he owns 80% of the company, where are you going with this?" Kitty replied frustrated.

"Where am I going? This is a list of the major contributors for the Republican campaigns for the last 20 years?" Robert pressed passing the list to Kitty "Now tell me, what do they all have in common?"

Kitty scanned the list and then froze in shock "They're all subsidiaries of Vale Industries... but this is almost 10 billion dollars worth of annual endorsements"

"Yup, 10 billion dollars that as of 2 months ago, have started flowing into democratic coffers" Robert pressed.

"And you think Aaron's done this?" Kitty questioned.

"He's the only one with the authority, and from what you've told me he's just as liberal as your other gay brother" Robert sighed "This is going to cripple our campaigns, you've got to talk to him about this"

"No, no way am I going to talk to him about politics, I've always kept a strict separation of work and home" Kitty defended.

"Fine, then arrange a meeting between us" Robert pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but no" Kitty answered before storming out.

* * *

Aaron was surprised to meet Kevin as he stepped into his meeting with the law firm. Out of obligation he had given his brother high praise when speaking with the partners, but had no idea they would have him help with the paper work.

"Aaron" Kevin greeted with a slightly nervous edge to his voice. Even though his brother had forgiven him, he still retained a pang of guilt over what had transpired.

"Kevin" Aaron smiled back, shaking Kevin's had firmly.

"Okay, so why don't we get started" The senior partner recommended as everyone took their seats. "So from what I understand, Vale Industries is seeking to build a factory of some kind here in California, and you need us to handle all the legal aspects?"

Aaron nodded "For the most part, however there are some rather important details you should know. The plant will be manufacturing classified materials for US Military use"

"Oh great so you're building bomb's for the government?" Kevin interrupted, earning stern looks form Robert.

Aaron shook his head "Actually no, these devices are strictly defensive, in fact they'll save several thousand of American lives".

"Then why is it classified" Kevin pressed.

"Because the technology behind these devices are still well outside the capabilities of any other government" Aaron quipped back, annoyance starting into creep into his voice.

"And I suppose that's what the government scientists told you?" Kevin sighed.

"No, that's what I'm telling you Kevin, since I'm the one who designed the device" Aaron quipped back.

"Okay lets calm down for a minute here" Robert intervened "If its military hardware you're producing, then a government clearance for production shouldn't be a problem"

"Yes, we understand that, however, one of the side effects of our fabrication techniques is the production of a very significant quantity of anti-matter" Aaron announced, "the government is not aware of this by product, and if we operate under military clearance they would have access to this material"

"I'm sorry but what exactly is anti-matter?" Robert questioned.

"Only the most powerful energy source in the known universe, think nuclear fusion times a billion" Kevin interjected.

"If the military were to get their hands on the substance, it could be weaponized in that fashion" Aaron admitted "We would prefer to use the antimatter to power the facility and according to our production estimates, there would be sufficient excess energy to supply much of the western seaboard"

"You'd most likely face the same hurdles as a nuclear power plant" Kevin insisted.

"I do not understand why, anti-matter based reactors have no residual radioactive mass, its clean and safe" Aaron pressed.

"No one's ever seen an anti-matter reactor, all they're going to hear is how much like a nuclear reactor they are" Kevin pressed "I would recommend you make a public announcement revealing designs for your anti-matter reactor, give the scientific community a few months to catch up on to how it works, once they're hooked, make the announcement about your facility being the first ever to utilize it"

"But that would give every country out there, blue prints for creating an anti-matter reactor" Robert pressed.

"True, however the reactor itself isn't the crown jewel, the antimatter is, and no other country would be capable of producing it at sufficient volumes to make a reactor viable" Aaron smiled. "In the mean time we could go ahead with the standard production facility until the world is ready for the new reactors. Thank you Kevin"

* * *

"Surprise" everyone yelled as Nora entered the house.

Aaron hugged his mother and then handed her his present.

"Where's the alcohol?" Scotty whispered as Nora moved on to meet the rest of her guests.

The pair made for the kitchen in search of the precious substance that would let them get through the day. Having searched the entire kitchen and asked several of the catering staff, they were told it was a dry party, and given sparkling cider as a consolation. Several hours into the party, Scotty had wondered off, and Aaron spotted his sister Kitty sneaking upstairs with Kevin. He quickly followed and as he approached the door he heard the pair yelling at each other.

As Aaron was intently listening, a hand reached out and tapped him from behind "What are you doing?" Tommy questioned

"Shush" Aaron replied crouching down.

"Why are we shushing?" Tommy whispered.

"Kevin and Kitty are fighting" Aaron announced.

"Well what else is new" Tommy laughed and continued strolling past, only to get sucked into the argument by Kitty.

"Senator homophobe?" Aaron questioned, finally stepping into the room himself.

"No, no, no, the senators not homophobic" Kitty stammered realizing how disastrous this could potentially be.

"Yes he is and you know it" Kevin shouted as he stepped out of the closet with a bottle of wine.

Before Kitty could reply, Uncle Saul came in announcing that they were preparing to start the video and leaving with Aaron and Tommy in tow.

Kitty stopped Kevin as he made to follow. "Kevin this is really bad you have to tell Aaron that Senator McCallister is not a homophobe" she pleaded.

Kevin looked at his sister perplexed "But he is" he pressed.

"NO seriously" Kitty almost shouted "You have to tell him"

"Is there something you aren't telling me Kitty?" Kevin questioned.

Kitty looked around sheepishly, and then shut the door "This doesn't leave the room you got it"

"Okay" Kevin replied, a little unnerved by his sisters behaviour.

"No seriously, if this leaves the room it could have serious ramifications" Kitty pressed.

"Okay" Kevin parroted.

"Aaron doesn't just work for Vale Industries, he owns 80 percent of it" Kitty confessed.

Kevin's jaw dropped, Vale Industries was the world's largest multinational corporation, it's assets in the US alone were in the Trillions. "You're kidding me" he stammered.

"No, and what's worse is Vale Industries has been funding almost 40 percent of the Republican coffers, that was until about 2 months ago when Aaron took over" Kitty admitted "Without that infusion of cash, we're predicting major losses in the next round of elections, that includes McCallister's"

"Wow" Kevin sighed.

"So you see why calling the Senator a homophobe right now was pretty bad" Kitty pressed.

Kevin turned to his sister "No I don't see, I'm sorry but his voting records just don't show him doing what's in my best interest. If he's going to go down in flames, because of his politics then so be it"

* * *

The image of Sarah's sex tape was not something Aaron wanted to have witnessed. "Quick I need to get that image out of my head" Aaron yelled at Scotty and dragged him upstairs.

About 40 minutes passed before the pair came back downstairs, walking into the kitchen just in time to hear Kitty out Kevin and the Senators brother, to Nora's Mother.

Nora turned around when she saw Aaron enter the room "And mother, this is Aaron, William and I's son whom we thought died 24 years ago"

Everyone in the kitchen turned at the announcement.

"Oh and this is his boyfriend Scotty, yes mother he's gay too" Nora concluded.

"Hi grandma" was all Aaron could manage to say before Saul ushered Aarons new grandmother out of the room.

Nora quickly apologized to everyone before leaving the Kitchen. Everyone was silent for an awkwardly long time, before Kitty grabbed both the Senator and Aaron.

"Both of you come with me" she whispered, dragging the pair up stairs. "Don't worry I'll bring him back in one piece Scotty" she added to a surprised Scotty.

* * *

"Um, what are we doing in your closet?" Aaron questioned, a little unnerved.

"It's okay I got alcohol in here" Kitty explained, pulling out 3 wine glasses and topping them up.

"So, you have a gay brother" Aaron asked, the new dynamic altering his impression of Senator a little bit.

"Actually yes" Robert responded.

"So how does he feel about your voting record" Aaron questioned.

"Well let's just say if I vote against gay marriage again, he'd kill me" Robert laughed "So I understand you work for Vale Industries"

Aaron shot Kitty a look "He told you didn't he" Aaron spouted ignoring the senator.

Kitty nodded her head.

"And you want me to restore the funding?" Aaron pressed.

Kitty nodded her head again.

Aaron shot Robert a look "Is he worth it?"

"I think he is" Kitty finally responded.

"You know, he is here in the room and can talk for himself" Robert protested.

"I'm sure you can, but frankly I'm not interested in what you have to say" Aaron confessed.

"Aaron" Kitty protested "He's a Senator, treat him with some respect will you"

"Oh please Kitty, I've dealt with republican Senator's all my life, watching them worm their way into my father's good graces for a hand out. It's sickening."

"He's not like that" Kitty defended "he's a good man".

Aaron looked at his sister and saw the love in her eyes, she had fallen for this man. "Fine, according to my political contact's you're making a play for the white house" he announced, staring the Senator straight in the face.

"Um, how did you know?" Robert stuttered.

"What!" Kitty yelled.

"You made some appointments next week with a certain billionaire, which tells me you're seeking funding for a campaign much larger than a senator." Aaron announced.

"Is it true" kitty pressed.

"Yes" Robert replied.

"Very well, I'll make you this deal. I'll funnel two billion dollars into your campaign for presidency and ill restore three billion to the Republican party. If you win the party nomination I'll funnel the remaining 5 billion into your campaign" Aaron announced.

"What are the conditions?" Robert questioned.

"If you become president, you make policies with your conscience and not your party affiliations or financial backers" Aaron pressed.

"Okay" Robert answered "And?"

"And" Aaron dropped to a whisper and leaned into McCallister's ear "If you break my sisters heart, I'll use everything at my disposal to destroy you"

The Senator gulped at the thought of what tools Aaron had access too. "Very well" he finally nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

Several weeks had passed since Nora's party, and life went about as usual for most of the family. Aaron spent the majority of his time overseeing the fabrication of the 10,000 units. Several small issues had arisen over the use of the MIT facilities, however a few strategically placed cheques seemed to tide that over.

As Easter peeked around the corner Aaron found himself sitting at his desk, fatigue clearly on his face, as Brian strolled into his office.

"You look tired" Brian announced, staring intently at the dishevelled form of Aaron "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine" Aaron lied, he was exhausted beyond reason. During most days, he spent the majority of his time handling Vale Industries affairs only to spend evenings and nights in wait of Scotty. Scotty on the other hand, had entered a busy period and did not return until very late hours of the night. The Pair never seemed to meet each other while conscious.

"Look" Brian pressed "I know I've been a little rough on you and Scotty, let me make that up to you. Why don't you take the next few weeks off and I'll cover the fabrication details. You've already smoothed over any major issues, so I should be able to tackle everything else"

Aaron looked to Brian with a smile "Thank you" he uttered "Mind if I start my vacation now?"

"Go ahead" Brian replied.

Aaron stood from his desk and walked quickly out of the lab. As he passed several technicians attempted to intercept him, to which he simply told them to seek out Brian.

Getting home before Scotty had even woken up was another bonus. He quickly summoned up a breakfast platter and brought it to his slumbering mate.

"Good morning" he whispered, gently kissing Scotty on the lips.

Scotty stirred at Aaron's warm kiss and opened his eyes to be greeted by a breakfast platter. "I thought I'm the chief" he muttered before taking note of the time "Oh my god, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"I have the next few weeks off" Aaron confessed with a ting of glee in his eye "let's go away, someplace warm where the sun never sets?"

Scotty shook his head "I'm sorry hun, Easter's coming up, there's no way I can get time off"

"I could make a call" Aaron questioned.

"No, I really need the practice" Scotty admitted, and sighed at the sad look on Aaron's face. "How about you go to California for your break, I'll be working all through the holidays, so you might as well spend time with your family" he proposed.

Aaron thought for a long moment "Would you be okay with that?" he finally questioned.

"Of course I would" Scotty replied, leaning in with a kiss.

* * *

After Scotty had left for work, Aaron hopped on the next commercial flight to California, not wanting to spend the journey alone. Upon arrival he quickly made his way to his mother's home only to walk in on a rather odd gathering.

All his siblings except for Kitty were seated in the living room. "Wow, what are you all doing here at this time of day?" Aaron questioned.

"Aaron!" Everyone almost shouted at once as they leapt from their seats and gave him a hug.

"What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" Sarah pressed.

"Everything's fine, I just took a couple weeks off work and thought I'd spend them down here with you guys" Aaron admitted before realizing there was a stranger amongst them "hello" he nodded in the woman's direction extending his hand.

"Hi" the woman replied shaking his hand.

"I'm sorry, Aaron this Rebecca, our half sister, and Rebecca this is Aaron our long lost brother" Tommy introduced.

"Nice to finally meet you" Aaron smiled. His mother had told him about Rebecca a few days prior, shortly after Tommy had informed him that Holly had become a major investor in Walker Landing. "So, why are we all gathered here today?"

"I actually called a family meeting, I received 4 phone calls asking to hang out, and assumed that it was Nora's doing" Rebecca confessed.

"Actually it was Justin's doing" Kevin interrupted.

"I'm sorry, I just thought since we're all family, we should hang out. Excuse me for trying to bring us closer together" Justin quipped.

"Where's Kitty?" Aaron questioned.

Everyone shook their heads.

"I don't think she wanted to meet me" Rebecca replied "I don't blame her though, we may have the same DNA, but we never grew up together, it's got to be difficult for her"

Before Aaron could reply a very dishevelled looking Kitty burst through the doors.

"Aaron!" Kitty shouted and gave her brother a hug "Um what are you doing here?" she paused and looked around the room "What is everyone doing here?"

"Rebecca called a family meeting" Kevin announced.

"Ah I see" Kitty stammered, caught like a deer in headlights. "Well I guess it's nice to finally meet you" she continued, extending her hand.

"This was a bad idea" Rebecca stated flatly "I'm sorry but I'm just not part of this family" she finished as she walked out the door.

"Well that was awkward" Kitty commented, breaking the silence that had fallen over the siblings. "Anyway, Aaron what are you doing here!"

"I'm on vacation and thought it'd be a great idea to spend it with family" Aaron smiled.

"Where's Scotty?" Kevin inquired.

"The restaurants pretty busy so he couldn't make it" Aaron confessed "I heard you've been dating Chad Berry?" he pressed.

Kevin's smile turned into a frown "we broke up"

"I'm sorry" Aaron replied.

After a few more minutes of catching up, Aarons brothers and sisters began leaving for their various Jobs leaving him alone with Kitty.

"So how's the campaign trail going?" Aaron questioned, the room feeling somewhat empty since the mass exodus of the others.

Kitty nodded her head rapidly "It's going good" she stammered "Though I really want to know more about you and Scotty, what's really going on there?" she pressed.

Aaron shrugged "Nothing's going on" he replied.

"Oh come on, you're going to spend two weeks away from him and you're telling me nothing's going on?" Kitty questioned.

"Well" Aaron began "It's just our schedules have been a nightmare recently. In the past three weeks we've only slept together once, and that was this morning" he confessed.

"Is it really the schedules, or are you afraid you're fizzling out?" Kitty pressed.

"It's the schedules" Aaron admitted "When we are together it's still like the first time we met" he smiled "I just can't wait until we move, LA's a lot more relaxed than New York"

"You don't have to tell me about it" Kitty laughed, she had lived in New York for some time before returning to California several months prior.

"So" Aaron stressed "How are you and the Senator getting along"

"Ahh, the Senator, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't bring that up" Kitty smiled sheepishly.

"You're in love aren't you?" Aaron pressed.

"Yup" Kitty admitted "He's just amazing, we have this thing I call brain sex" she laughed.

"Sounds pretty gross" Aaron laughed.

"No no no, we basically debate politics and its totally hot" Kitty explained.

"Like I said, gross" Aaron smiled.

* * *

Later that afternoon Nora finally returned from her classes and Aaron asked if he could stay with her for the duration of his holiday. To say she was thrilled would've been an understatement and agreed before the words had left Aarons lips. With Justin, Kitty and now Aaron staying with her, she was beyond happy.

As the evening wore on Aaron was in the kitchen helping Nora prepare dinner for the whole family. While she was frantically chopping up vegetables she asked Aaron to go into the study to retrieve a recipe for her. After a few minutes of rummaging, Aaron stumbled onto something that peeked his interest.

"Mom" he questioned as he walked into the kitchen.

"Did you find it dear?" Nora asked.

Aaron placed the recipe card on the table counter and held up the other piece of paper he had found in the study "you have a trip for 8 to New Zealand" he smiled.

Nora looked up from the recipe card "Oh yeah that, I won it by accident at the charity auction a few months back"

"It expires in 3 weeks, we should really use it" Aaron pressed.

"Well if you want to use it go ahead dear, I was just going to let it expire" Nora replied.

"Why don't we all use it for a family Easter vacation? There are 8 of us, Sarah, Kitty, Tommy, Kevin, Justin, Me, you and Saul." Aaron stated.

"Oh I wish" Nora replied "But the kids are always too busy, and with such short notice"

"Well how about you leave the convincing to me?" Aaron smiled.

"Okay, well if you think you can get them to come, I'm in" Nora laughed.

* * *

Aaron spent the next hour making phone calls, and was soon surprised as family members started pouring into the house. It was an amazing feat that Nora's table could accommodate virtually any number of guests.

"So" Aaron began as everyone started digging into their dinner plates "I happened upon something mom won at the charity auction a couple months back"

"Oh yeah" Kitty started laughing "You mean the trip for 8 to New Zealand"

"Mom, did you decide when you're going to use that thing? Doesn't it expire soon?" Kevin questioned.

"Actually it expires in a few weeks, so I was wondering, why don't we use it over the Easter break?" Aaron announced.

"We, as in all of us?" Tommy questioned.

"Yeah, it'll be fun, a sort of family outing" Aaron pressed.

"I'm sorry Aaron but some of us have commitments, like families and work" Sarah replied.

"Well I've thought about that and I did a bit of calling around. I spoke with Joe and made arrangements for him and the kids to visit Disney world for the holiday's" Aaron explained, then turned to Tommy "and I made arrangement's with Julia, her parents will be flying in for the Easter break and she said it'd be fine for you to come"

"But what about those of us who have to work" Kevin pressed.

"I spoke with your boss Kevin, he's giving you the week off, and as for Ojai and the Winery, with the Easter holidays the main offices will be closed anyway so at most you'll miss 3 days of work" Aaron pleaded.

Everyone looked around contemplative and finally Sarah broke in "Fine, I guess I could use a break" she explained.

Soon afterwards everyone else at the table caved causing Aaron and Nora to both light up with glee.

"Oh this is great, it'll be the first family vacation since, well since Sarah went off to college" Nora beamed.

* * *

Everyone arrived at the airport in various states of fervour. Sarah was the most visibly shaken as she had spent the night packing not only for herself but also for the kids and their trip to Disneyworld.

"Okay everyone" Nora broke in as the group gathered near a bank of chairs "Here are your tickets" she began handing out the tickets. "Go ahead and check-in, I'll wait for Justin, he had to pick up his clearance papers before he could leave the country"

The party grumbled slightly before breaking off and heading to the check in counters.

Sarah was the first to be serviced.

"I'm sorry miss walker you didn't have to wait in line, it seems your ticket has been upgraded to business class" the counter lady smiled and issued her boarding pass.

"Wow business class, thank you very much" Sarah thanked before moving off to the side and waiting for the others to check in.

Once the last of the family had checked in, and made their way through the security checkpoints. Everyone broke off and went in different directions to browse the duty free goods. Soon after boarding had begun, Aaron found himself walking up to a familiar face on the plane.

"Great, I guess we're sitting next to each other" Aaron smiled at Kevin who had a less than thrilled look on his face.

"Go figure, they put the only two gay's on the plane next to each other" Kevin half chuckled, still feeling a little awkward around his brother.

Aaron stowed his luggage and placed the crystalline tablet on his seat, quickly scanning the cabin. He found that his mother and Saul were seated together, along with Tommy and Kevin, and Sarah and Kitty, but their placements were scattered around the cabin in pairs, which was comprised of a single isle splitting two rows with two seats in each row. It was actually very spacious layout and the chairs could easily recline into beds.

Aaron finally sat down and slipped the tablet into the seat pocket in front of him.

"What's that" Kevin questioned, clearly trying to make small talk.

"It's just some files from work I thought I'd work on during the flight" Aaron confessed, and watched as Kevin's attention went from the tablet to a male flight attendant who was helping another passenger.

"He's cute" Kevin smirked "And this is a New Zealand airline, I hope all the natives look like that"

Aaron laughed "He is cute, I'll give you that, but do you think he plays for our team"

"He's a flight attendant, other than cabaret host, that's the most gay profession we have" Kevin laughed.

As if to prove Kevin right, the attendant turned and winked at Aaron.

"I guess you're right" Aaron laughed.

"Oh go figure, he's interested in you" Kevin sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean" Aaron questioned.

"It means that there's no way I'm going to hook up with anyone hanging around next to you" Kevin pressed.

"Oh come on, it's not like I'm going to flirt back, I'm taken for Christ sake" Aaron rebutted.

After the plane had finally taken off, the male flight attendant approached the pair. "Hello, my name's Sam and I'll be servicing you today" he smiled cheerfully at the pair, before handing them a dinner menu. "This is the dinner menu, each of the dishes are a three course meal, and you can choose from any of the beverages on the back of the menu, at any time during the flight, just press your call button when you're ready" he smiled and then walked to the rear the compartment.

"Boy I'd like him to service me" Kevin whispered as the attendant began his introductions to another pair further behind them.

"Kevin" Aaron half heartedly laughed.

"Did you see the way he was looking at you, he barely acknowledged my existence" Kevin complained.

"Stop imagining things, it's all in your head" Aaron rebutted.

"Okay, well then why don't you do me a favour and switch places with Tommy? At least then I won't have to compete for his attention" Kevin pressed.

"Fine" Aaron replied, and abruptly stood up. It was only few strides to reach Tommy who was on the opposite isle just three rows down and sitting next to Justin.

"What's wrong?" Tommy questioned as Aaron approached.

Aaron shook his head slightly "Kevin wants me to switch place's with you, he's trying to hit on the attendant and doesn't want me distracting him" he laughed.

Tommy nodded his head "Okay, I'll switch with you, Justin's been fawning over our attendant too, I think it's some kind of hormone imbalance" he laughed, rising from his seat.

"Great a gay guy, now I don't have to compete with Tommy for the attendants attention, her name's Ester by the way" Kevin smirked.

In the rear of the plane Ester and Sam watched as their charges exchanged seats.

"Oh great what are they doing?"Ester questioned.

"Looks like they're changing seats" Sam stated the obvious "God that sucks, that Aaron fellow's really cute, and the guy he was sitting with kept trying to hit on me"

"Really? Well the guy he's sitting next to now keeps trying to hit on me, you know sometimes I just want to slap these people" Ester admitted "Anyway, who's team do you think he plays for?"

"I'm not too sure, my gaydar doesn't seem to work too well on Americans. I know, why don't you find out for us?" Sam pressed.

"Ah, you want me to pull a Lisa" she smiled.

"Exactly" Sam pushed.

Ester nodded in reply and picked up a small silver tray that had several warm rolled up refresher towels on it. She quickly marched over to where Aaron and Justin now sat. "Warm towel?" she questioned in as seductive a tone as she could muster.

"Yes please" Justin flirted back.

Ester picked up a tong and reached over Aaron, ensuring that her breasts passed over his eye line and was disappointed when Aaron took no notice of them. Justin however was so enthralled that when ester let go of the towel, it bounced off Justin's outstretched hand and landed on the ground. Ester chose this moment to test Aaron further "let me get that" she smiled and leaned over, her breasts now firmly pressed against Aarons lap as she reached down to retrieve the towel. As she began to rise she let her hand slide up Aarons leg and down his inner thigh where she felt a lot more than she intended and quickly apologized before running back to the rear of the plane. Aaron was sitting in shock over what had just transpired, not knowing exactly what to do.

"Oh my god dude, she just felt you up didn't she" Kevin gasped "Damn it I should've taken that seat" he sighed.

In the rear of the plane Ester ran into Sam "What happened" he questioned.

"I started off with a Lisa, but the idiot next to him dropped his towel so I thought I'd gently pat his thigh on my way up, you know to see if he took the bait" she explained.

"Well did he?" Sam questioned.

"It didn't go exactly as I planned, as I patted his inner thigh I sort of accidently rubbed up against his thing" she announced.

Sam's eyes went wide "Oh my god you felt his penis" he gasped.

Ester nodded her head frantically "Yup, how it was tucked down the right side of his thigh and it was huge, and I'm pretty sure it was flaccid"

"Oh my god" was all Sam could say as he looked back down the isle.

* * *

After the incident with the flight attendant Aaron couldn't help but feel awkward every time she came by so he decided to change places with Sarah, a move that Justin appreciated greatly. This left Aaron seated next to Kitty, and for the next few hours the conversed about the state of Affairs with the senators Campaign to become president, and how it actually looked promising now that they no longer had to worry about major fundraising events.

As the Cabin lights dimmed Aaron found he could not sleep and so returned to his original seat to retrieve his tablet. Tommy was seated watching a movie on his screen and smiled as Aaron approached. "did you want your seat back" he whispered.

"No it's okay, I just need my tablet" Aaron explained as he pulled the tablet from the laptop storage compartment built behind the seat in front of him. "I see Kevin's fallen asleep, did he ever get a chance to talk with the attendant?"

Tommy shook his head "He's been flirting like crazy but it hasn't led anywhere" he smiled "I'm pretty sure the attendant was way more interested in you, he kept asking questions about you, it kind of pissed Kevin of a little bit"

Aaron laughed, and said good night before making his way back to Kitty. Kitty had managed to recline her seat into a bed and had drifted off to sleep, so Aaron put his tablet on its lowest brightness setting and began looking over his projects.

"Mr Smith, are you having trouble sleeping?" the voice of the flight attendant known as Sam, broke Aaron out of his concentration. Aaron turned to find the rather handsome man bearing down on him with a very warm smile.

"No, I just thought I'd do a little work before calling it a night" Aaron confessed.

"What is it that you do?" Sam questioned.

"I work for R&D at Vale Industries" Aaron answered.

"Wow, do you get to build really cool gadgets?" Sam pressed.

Aaron nodded his head "Sometimes, though most of the time, my job involves filling out paper work, mountains and mountains of paper work" he chuckled.

"What brings you to New Zealand" Sam asked.

"My mom bought the trip at a charity auction a few months ago, and I thought it would be a good idea to get to bond with my siblings" Aaron replied.

"Siblings, yes I was a little confused about that, it seems like everyone else are Walkers, however your last name is Smith" Sam questioned.

"That's a bit of a complicated and long story, I sort of just recently learnt they were my siblings" Aaron confessed "which makes this the perfect trip to get to learn more about them".

Sam smiled "Well if there's anything I can do to make you trip more pleasant just let me know".

Aaron thought for a moment before replying "Actually there might be. My brother Kevin over there has the biggest crush on you, is there any chance you'd consider chatting with him?"

Sam paused "Actually, I do think he's kind of cute, but honestly I was more attracted to you" he smiled.

"Well I'm flattered" Aaron explained.

"But you're seeing someone" Sam interrupted.

Aaron nodded "Yes we've been together for several months, and unfortunately he couldn't take time off work for this trip"

Sam nodded "He's a lucky man" he added solemnly "You know, I think I will have a chat with your brother"

Aaron smiled this time "thank you".

* * *

The next morning Aaron awoke to the smell of scrambled eggs and maple syrup being served. Next to him Kitty was digging into a very large stack of pancakes while his own table had scrambled eggs, bacon and toast.

"Good morning" Kitty announced with way too much pep.

"Wow, these seats are way more comfortable than I thought they would be" Aaron smiled.

Kitty nodded "Totally, that was one of the best night sleeps I've ever had"

Aaron was then taken aback as he saw Kevin walking down the aisle with a huge grin on his face. Shortly afterwards Sam followed also with a huge grin on his face, and threw a wink at Aaron as he passed.

Kitty picked up on this right away "Oh my god, Kevin totally joined the mile high club" she gaped and then dropped her jaw as Justin came walking down the aisle followed shortly by Ester "You have got to be freaking kidding me, we can't take these boys anywhere!"

Aaron laughed as he began consuming his breakfast, it wouldn't be long now until they arrived in New Zealand.

* * *

"Oh god we've lost an entire day" Sarah shouted as the group arrived at the Langham Hotel and began checking-in.

"Don't worry, we'll get it back on the way home" Aaron explained.

"Yah, but it's still kind of scary to think that an entire day just disappeared" Tommy added.

"Anyway" Nora interjected "We're now all checked in, so Saul and I will be taking the Suite, the rest of you are going to be sharing rooms" she announced.

"Kitty, Sarah, you're in room 405" Nora handed the pair their key cards. "Justin and Tommy, you two are in 406, and Aaron and Kevin you two are in 404"

"Oh great" Kevin announced sarcastically.

"Mom couldn't we have all gotten our own rooms?" Kitty pressed.

"Look here, the package only had 4 rooms in it so unless you want to fork over the 600 dollars a night for your own rooms, you'll just have to live with it" Nora snapped, silencing everyone "Now get to your rooms, get changed and refreshed, then back down here by 10'oclock we're going on a bus tour"

Aaron and Kevin made their way to their room and started to unpack.

"Can I use the shower first?" Aaron asked.

"Go ahead, I could use a quick nap anyway" Kevin smirked with a mischievous look on his face.

"Come on Sam couldn't have tired you out that much" Aaron laughed mockingly.

Kevin's eyes went wide "How did you know?"

"Oh come on, everyone knew, you weren't very stealth coming out of the bathroom" Aaron explained, as he stripped off his shirt and placed it on his bed.

Kevin paused, his eyes transfixed on his brothers perfectly formed body, completely hairless and without a single blemish to his skin. "Do you wax your body hair?" he questioned.

Aaron looked down at his skin and shook his head "No, I had most of it removed by laser, it just became too much of a hassle, besides this lets me swim faster and less chaffing when I'm working out"

"I see" Kevin gulped as Aaron began unbuttoning his pants "Um do you mind maybe undressing in the bathroom, it's kind of distracting" he confessed.

Aaron was startled by his brothers request "What's distracting" he questioned.

"Well I mean we're both gay" Kevin explained.

"Yeah, but we're brothers, brothers get changed in front of each other all the time, hell in locker rooms even complete strangers get changed in front of each other" Aaron pressed.

"That may be true, but I doubt Justin and Kitty would ever change in front of each other, and it feels like that sort of situation with you" Kevin stated.

"Well okay, if it makes your more comfortable" Aaron replied, then quickly moved into the bathroom, where he removed the rest of his clothing and jumped in the shower.

It was several long minutes before Aaron left the shower and threw a towel around himself. He then stepped out of the bathroom to be greeted by Sarah and Kitty who were sitting on Kevin's bed.

"Where'd Kevin go?" Aaron questioned.

"He went to use our shower" Kitty explained, both she and Sarah had locked eyes on Aarons perfect form, admiring every muscle on the man's body.

"We thought we'd stop by and see how you're doing" Sarah added.

Aaron smiled and grabbed a pair of boxes from his bag, throwing them on he let his towel drop. The sisters now sat transfixed on the very sizable bulge in their brother's briefs. "Kevin's missing one hell of a show" Kitty whispered into Sarah's ear while Aaron bent over his suit case rummaging for a fresh set of clothes to throw on. He finally settled on a plane white t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts.

"Ready to get going girls?" Aaron finally announced after fastening his belt.

"We sure are" Kitty announced but then froze as she noticed a strange look come over Aaron. His eyes had almost glassed over as he seemed to be looking off into the distance.

Sarah had also noticed the sudden change "Aaron are you okay" she questioned, but was met with silence. She approached Aaron slowly and tapped on his shoulder "Are you okay" she repeated.

This snapped Aaron out of daze however Aaron still did not respond. Instead he ran to his brief and pulled out his tablet, as he tapped on its surface the room came to life in an array of holographic windows. The girls watched in awe as Aaron's hands ran from holographic window to holographic window orchestrating a changing collage of images, texts and equations.

After about twenty minutes of stunned silence Kevin barged into the room "Hey guy's what's taking you so long..." his words trailed off as he caught sight of the floating holograms. "What's going on?" he questioned.

"We don't know" Sarah answered "He just froze for a good twenty seconds and then started doing this"

Kevin walked up to the images and began to notice what was happening. Aaron was building something, something very small and probably very important. "You two head down to mom, I'll stay with Aaron"

It was another four hours before Aaron finally completed his design, and snapped back to reality. "Kevin" he remarked.

"Aaron, you're finally out of your daze, what where you building?" Kevin questioned.

Aaron shook his head "I'm sorry, when I get into that state I just can't stop until I get the idea out of my head" he apologized "What you're looking at is the future of all technology"

Kevin laughed "And what exactly does that mean"

"You'll see" Aaron smirked and quickly established a video call back to vale industries.

"Brian" Aaron finally announced as the connection was answered.

"Aaron, how is your vacation going?" Brian questioned as a holographic window with his face appeared above the bed.

"It's going great, however, I got inspired a little while ago, I want you to rush these designs to the lab and have it fabricated ASAP" Aaron explained.

"Okay, but what is it" Brian questioned.

"Something very important" Aaron replied with a sly smile on his face. The moment of inspiration had led him to design a probability field manipulator, a device that would soon become the backbone of all future technologies. "I want the device fabricated, and loaded with the encrypted data burst I'm sending with this call. Let me know as soon as testing is completed"

Brian smiled "Okay, I'll take care of things on this end, just make sure you have some fun and relax" he replied before cutting the link.

Aaron turned to Kevin "Okay let's go get hammered" he laughed.

* * *

Kevin and Aaron set out and soon found themselves on K road, they were advised by the front desk that this was the most gay friendly road in town, and thankfully very close to the hotel. After a brief walk of less than a city block, the pair happened upon a bar called Navel and immediately decided to park themselves at a table.

"How can I help you folks" a very cute looking bartender questioned.

"I'll have a jack and coke in a tall glass and 2 shots of tequila" Aaron announced before turning to Kevin "What would you like?"

Kevin looked at his watch "It's only 2 pm, are you sure you want to have tequila shots this early?"

"We're on vacation" Aaron explained "and besides we seriously need a break"

"Fine I'll have a vodka , lemon and lime" Kevin ordered.

"Can we open up a tab" Aaron questioned, handing the bar keeper a credit card.

The bar keeper nodded with a smile and handed Aaron a Tab card "just hand this to whoever you order from and we'll charge you when you're ready to leave"

The pair took their shots and then found a quiet corner in which to sit and watch the series of very old music videos being displayed on the screens.

It was several more hours before the rest of the family had finished their tour and started in search of their missing siblings. After several phone calls the family finally found the pair already well on their way to being sloshed.

"Aaron, Kevin, what the hell are you two doing?" Nora questioned as she found the pair laughing in a corner table for no apparent level.

"We're getting hammered mother, this is a vacation after all" Kevin replied.

"Come join us guys" Aaron yelled.

Sarah looked at her watch "It's almost six PM, we might as well start drinking" she offered and was met with agreement from everyone else.

The group pulled several tables together in order to accommodate their number, and Aaron passed the Tab card to Sarah "Order whatever you guys want and put it on my tab" he smiled.

Sarah looked at her brother a little annoyed "I can buy my own drinks but thanks" she barked.

"Look, we're going to be drinking here for a least a couple more hours, this way we don't have to keep swiping our credit cards, or forking out cash every time we refill" Kevin explained.

Sarah grabbed the card "Fine" she stated before asking what everyone wanted.

Uncle Saul ended up with a glass of wine, Nora and Kitty each ordered Cosmo's, while Tommy and Sarah ended up with a pitcher of some random New Zealand beer. Justin was the only one who had a non alcoholic beverage, and for good reason.

As the night wore on, the group ordered dinner, and soon realized that the nature of the bar they were now eating and drinking in.

"Oh my god this is a gay bar isn't it" Kitty sighed as she began to notice the abundance of male occupants .

Both Aaron and Kevin burst out laughing "Yup, you're getting trashed in a gay bar, I can't wait to see this plastered all over the news back home" Kevin added.

"If this ends up on the news I'm going to kill both of you" Kitty laughed, already feeling the effects of the alcohol "Boy these things are hitting me"

"they should" Justin spoke up "I heard that New Zealand alcohol has almost double the proof of their American counterparts"

"Hey Kevin come dance with me" Aaron announced as one of his favourite songs began to play.

Kevin shrugged "Okay", and the pair left the table and started randomly dancing on the dance floor. The moment the two hit the dance floor, several nearby patrons joined them.

"Oh my god we totally need a video of this, we could blackmail them for years" Tommy laughed as Kevin began flailing about the dance floor. Meanwhile Aaron had multiple suitors attempting to impress him with their dance moves.

After dinner, Nora and Saul decided to return to the hotel, while Tommy and Justin decided to check out a more hetero normative crowd further down the street. Sarah and Kitty remained watchful over their heavily intoxicated brothers, while being quite intoxicated themselves.

By 11pm the crowds really started to gather, Aaron had, had his fill of dancing for the night and was more than ready to return home, however Kevin was still grinding with random patrons and having the odd make out session. As the three siblings were about to pull Kevin off the dance floor, a drag queen made an appearance and the group suddenly realized they were caught in the middle of a show. The show was spectacular to say the least and at one point the host drag queen, one Miss Ribena, approached Aaron with ghosto.

"Well aren't you a pretty little thing" Ribena announced, grabbing a hold of Aaron and pulling him into the spotlight. "Why don't you do us all a favour and take your shirt off" she questioned seductively.

Aaron, still quite intoxicated, didn't give it a second thought and removed his shirt to mass cheers from the audience. "My god I could great cheese on those abs" Ribena laughed as she ran her hands down Aarons chest. "So tell me darling, where are you from?"

"New York" Aaron replied honestly.

"New York" Ribena repeated "Concrete jungle where dreams are made of" she sung "Wow darling, what brings you here all the way from such a wonderful metropolis?"

"I'm on vacation with my family" Aaron answered.

"Your family, Darling I don't see a wedding ring on that finger" Ribena pointed out.

"I'm here with my mother, brothers and sisters" Aaron replied.

"Well that's one lucky family to have you to stare at all day, now tell me do you walk around home shirtless?" Ribena laughed.

Aaron shook his head.

"Well I just want to gobble you up" Ribena pushed making slurping noises.

"I'm sorry I'm taken" Aaron admitted.

"Where is your significant other, how could he let a tasty treat like you wonder alone among all the lions out here" Ribena laughed as she made roaring noises.

"He had to work this week" Aaron answered.

"I see, I guess someone's got to pay the bills" Ribena smirked before breaking into a song.

Aaron took this time to head back over to Kitty and Sarah, his public conversation with the drag queen had sobered him up very quickly. "I'm ready to go" Aaron announced.

"What about your shirt?" Kitty questioned.

"Let him have it, I just want to go home" Aaron replied as he forced his way towards the bar. At the bar he handed the bartender his tab card "I'd like to cash out thanks"

The bar tender nodded and pulled up his bill.

"Wait" Sarah interrupted "Here let me get half of the tab" she insisted.

Aaron looked at the receipt and shook his head "No Sarah I think I should just get the whole thing"

"No way" Sarah pushed, shoving her credit card into the bar tenders hand "Charge half of it to my card"

"Sarah, the tab was 3728.40" Aaron announced.

"WHAT" Sarah yelled "oh god, how much did we drink tonight"

Aaron turned to the bar tender "Please charge the whole thing to my card" he announced.

"Thank you Aaron" Sarah replied, taking her card back.

After signing the receipt the three of them left the club and headed home. Unfortunately Kevin had refused to come with them, saying he would make his way home when he was ready. As soon as he arrived in his room Aaron brushed his teeth and changed into his pyjamas before crashing into the bed.

It was 3 am when the door flung open startling Aaron awake, he quickly turned on the light to find Kevin making out with a guy and quickly stripping of their clothes. "You've got to be kidding me" Aaron announced, startling the pair.

"Aaron, you're awake" Kevin replied sheepishly "I actually hopped you would be asleep"

Aaron stared intently at his brother "You were going to have sex with me asleep in the bed next to you" he gapped.

"Who's this" Kevin's new friend questioned "Maybe you'd like to join us"

"Gross, he's my brother" Kevin shouted.

"I don't mind, you could spit roast me" The man replied seductively.

Aaron jumped out of bed and stormed out of the room "I'll sleep with the girls" he announced as he exited and began knocking on the room opposite.

It took a few moments before Sarah opened the door.

"Aaron what is it, its 3 in the morning" Sarah pressed sleepily.

"I need to sleep with you guys tonight, Kevin's co-opted our room, and his date was suggesting a threesome, something about spit roasting" Aaron announced as he barged past Sarah and jumped into her bed.

"Fine I'll share Kitties bed" Sarah announced as she closed the door.

"Did someone say spit roasting?" Kitty questioned, stirring awake.

"Yah, I'm not even sure what that is" Aaron replied.

"Well it's a threesome where you're doing it doggy style while giving head" Kitty explained.

Both Aaron and Sarah paused and just stared at their sister.

"What" Kitty pressed "I read it somewhere"

"Just go to bed" Sarah finally spoke breaking the awkward moment.

Just as the siblings were beginning to doze off, there was another knock on the door. Sarah stumbled out of bed to open the door, revealing Tommy on the other side.

"Let me guess, Justin's having sex?" Sarah questioned.

"How did you know?" Tommy asked, barging past her and into the room.

"Because the only two unattached siblings have co-opted our rooms, leaving the four attached siblings to share a single room" Kitty announced as Tommy jumped into Aaron's bed.

"Justin's date didn't suggest a spit roast with you too did she?" Aaron questioned.

"No, what's a spit roast?" Tommy questioned.

"Ask Kitty" both Sarah and Aaron announced simultaneously.


	4. Chapter 4

Samantha Carter sat silently at her desk, contemplating the tremendous amount of new technologies being retrieved from the Atlantis database. Much of the science was well beyond anyone on Earth's ability to understand, thankfully the Asgard database had seemed to bridge the gap between human technology and ancient. She found it incredibly odd when a General Perez entered her office holding a piece of technology that should not technically exist.

"Colonel Carter" The general announced with the air of superiority most 4 star generals carry.

"General" Carter replied, snapping to attention with a salute of her own.

"At ease Colonel" Perez replied taking a seat before being offered one.

"What can I do for you General?" Carter questioned.

The General lifted his brief case and opened it to reveal a small metallic object, barely half the size of a credit card. "I want to know what you can make of this, the US military has just acquired 10,000 units of it" he announced.

Carter reached out and picked up the device, noticing that it weighed far more than it should have given its size. "What is it sir?"

"It is a Personal Kenetic-Thermal Shield" the General announced, surprising Carter. "It activates the moment you have it on your person. We want to know if it's based on alien technology, and if it can be replicated" he replied.

Carter looked at the device with confusion, it was far too small to do what the General was implying, however she knew better than to question a 4 star General. "I understand sir; I'll begin testing it immediately"

"Great" The General nodded "I'll expect a report on my desk in the next 72 hours" he added before standing.

Carter stood to attention at the Generals rising. "Yes Sir, and if you don't mind my asking, where exactly did you get this device"

"It was manufactured here on Earth, by Vale industries" The General replied before leaving the room.

Carter looked down at the device with intrigue.

* * *

Twenty Four hours later, Carter was running an increasing battery of tests on the device left to her by General Perez.

"It just makes no sense, look at the atomic density of the underlying structure, anything that large would undergo spontaneous fission" the annoying Dr Rodney McKay shouted.

"It should but it doesn't" Carter rebutted, "Whoever designed and built this thing obviously has a much greater understanding of atomic nuclei than we do"

"I thought you said it was built here on Earth, and I'm sorry to say that the smartest people on this planet are in this room" McKay yelled, his voice seeped in arrogance.

"Obviously not since we can't even figure out how this thing works" Another lab technician whispered.

"I heard that, and for you information I was referring to me and Carter" McKay quipped back.

"Don't make me grab a lemon" Carter replied, she then returned her attention to the device "I just don't see how this device is absorbing the kinetic and thermal energy, nothing in our understanding of physics allows for this to happen"

"Well maybe that's the problem" McKay gasped "We're applying our science when we should be asking the Asgard computer core"

"You're right, we have a copy of the core in the base, I'm going to download our data and see if the holographic Thor interface can make sense of it" Carter smiled, quickly downloading the data into a compatible Asgard crystal.

A few minutes later and the pair were standing before the Asgard core.

"Greetings" the holographic Thor announced as he materialized before them.

"Thor, have you analyzed the data on the crystal?" Carter questioned.

The grey creature nodded its head "Yes"

"Well, what did you find?" McKay shouted.

"The device does not operate on any principles familiar to Asgard science" Thor announced.

Carter shook her head "How is that possible, could it be ancient?" she pressed.

Thor looked up at Carter and blinked several times "It is possible, however it is not based on any of the knowledge we extracted from the Ancient database, nor is it based on any of the technology privy to civilizations we have encountered".

"What can you tell us about its design?" Carter questioned.

"I can only tell you that whoever designed this device, is utilizing a construct of the universe radically different, and far more accurate than anything we have encountered" Thor announced before disappearing.

* * *

General Perez stormed into the SGC, clearly angry at the report he had just read from Colonel Carter.

"What do you mean you don't know how it works? This is the most advanced scientific facility in this galaxy!" Perez shouted at a startled Carter.

"I see you read my report" Carter replied. "I'm sorry general but the device is operating on scientific principles that we can't understand, even the Asgard core couldn't decipher it."

"What about replicating the technology" Perez pressed.

"We can use the Asgard Synthesizer to replicate the hardware, however, we can't get the replicated units to work" Carter explained. "I believe it has to do with the software, the data is stored on the atomic level, during replication we can entangle the quantum states, however the moment you activate one device without the other, the state in the replicated device changes causing a break in the entanglement, corrupting the internally stored data, it's like having a computer without an operating system"

"So we're still reliant on Vale Industries to produce these devices" Perez exhaled, visibly deflated.

"Yes" Carter nodded.

"Fine, I want you to meet with the head of R&D over at Vale industries, if this technology is beyond even the Asgards understanding, I want to know exactly how they're building these things" the General announced "and Carter, be careful how you tread, the director has a lot of influence both politically and economically, not to mention he's the brother in law of Senator McCallister who's on the appropriations committee for the SGC"

* * *

Things had gone well for Aaron since his return from New Zealand. Over the much needed break, he had managed to bond even more with his siblings and had put to rest the awkwardness between Kevin and himself. The weeks had continued to roll on by, and shortly after their return from New Zealand, Sarah and Tommy had cornered Aaron and forced him to take back the 15 million dollars from Ojai and 16 million for Walker Landing. Tommy had entered negotiations with Holly and she purchased back the 5 million dollars worth of Ojai stocks for the 8 million dollars Aaron had paid for it, Tommy had then sold his stake in Ojai back to Sarah in order to go in on Walker Landing with Holly for 8 million. The pair then made Aaron swear that no matter how dire the circumstance, he would no longer bail out both companies and that they needed to take responsibility from there on in. Aaron had agreed reluctantly, and placed the 31 million dollars in a family trust for his new nieces and nephews.

Aaron paced the apartment, extremely nervous, as he waited for Scotty to come home. It was Scotty's birthday and he had everything planned down to a T, however Scotty was now fifteen minutes late getting home.

As Aaron hopped on the phone and placed all his preparations on hold, the elevator finally opened and Scotty strolled out. "Happy birthday" Aaron announced, startling Scotty with a kiss.

"Oh honey, thank you" Scotty replied, clearly exhausted from his day's activities at work.

"I've got your tux laid out on the bed, we have fifteen minutes to get ready" Aaron stated ushering his boyfriend into the bedroom.

"Honey I know you went to a lot of trouble planning this night, but is there any way we could stay in tonight?" Scotty questioned.

Aaron simply stared at Scotty in reply.

"Okay fine I'll get ready" Scotty finally caved and quickly got dressed.

In twenty minutes the pair was in the limo, barrelling towards the coast. "Aaron, where are we going?" Scotty questioned, as he noticed the city was quickly fading behind them.

"It's a surprise" Aaron smiled, gently kissing Scotty on the cheek.

A few minutes later and the limo had pulled into the mariner startling Scotty even further. As the pair exited the limo, Aaron led Scotty down the births to a rather enormous dock housing a very large yacht.

"Oh my lord" Scotty gasped as he boarded the ship, and gasped further when he found a romantic table for two set on the deck. "It's beautiful"

The pair sat quietly as the ship pulled away from the mariner and out into the clear ocean night, After a few minutes Aaron led Scotty up to the top most deck. From the upper deck Scotty looked down to find a massive crowd of people, on the lower deck, "SUPRISE" they all yelled at once.

Scotty was stunned, barely able to speak as the group now sung happy birthday. As the birthday song subsided, Scotty thanked everyone and as he turned to speak to Aaron he was greeted by a visage he could barely have dreamed of. Aaron was kneeling with small box outstretched, and nestled within the box was a ring.

"Scotty Wandell, will you marry me" Aaron announced.

Scotty looked into Aaron's eyes "Yes, of course I'll marry you" he replied, pulling Aaron close to him and planting a huge kiss on his lips. Down on the lower deck champagne bottles exploded and off the side of the boat fireworks were launched bringing the night to life.

"Now aren't you glad we didn't stay in" Aaron whispered.

The pair quickly made their way down to the lower deck, and was immediately engulfed by the numerous family members and friends. Aaron had even managed to convince Scotty's parents into attending the birthday party, and his mother now looked full of fury. She had obviously not expected a wedding proposal, and for some reason that had crossed the line of her Southern Republican boundaries. Scotty disappeared into the ship with his parents, in an attempt to calm her down, during this time Aaron was approached by his own family.

"Congratulations!" Nora Walker, his mother, yelled as she hugged him tightly. The hug was followed closely by the rest of the Walker Clan, all except Tommy who had to remain with his wife at hom.

"So when's the wedding" Nora pressed.

"Mom, they just got engaged, it's not like they've had any time at all to discuss the wedding" Kitty replied.

Aaron nodded "We haven't talked about anything yet, but as soon as we do, you'll be the first to know" he added "and of course I'll want you to help plan it"

Nora's eyes lit up with glee at the proposal, just as Scotty exited onto the lower deck with a grim face.

"We need to turn the boat around" Scotty whispered into Aaron's ear "She's not taking this too well"

"I'll call in a chopper to get her" Aaron replied as he slipped away from his family and into the cabin.

The boat was basically a maze, with over 30 guest cabins, 10 crew cabins, dining halls, lounges, a swimming pool, helipad, spa's and saunas, it was truly designed to host corporate events. And with a price tag of 30 million and permanent staff of 15, it was one of Aarons more exuberant toys.

"Mrs Wandell" Aaron announced as he finally entered the guest cabin the Wandell's had retreated too.

"Are you turning the ship around" Bertha questioned with cold anger seeped in her voice.

Aaron shook his head "No, but if you really wish to leave I can have a helicopter air lift you back to the mainland" he announced.

"Well you do that" Bertha replied.

"I don't understand why you're so angry?" Aaron pressed.

Bertha glared at Aaron "I came here for my Son's birthday, not for an ungodly farce" she pressed.

"I see" was all Aaron managed to stammer and anger boiled up inside of him. He quickly left the cabin, and Scotty chased after him.

"I'm sorry about my mother" Scotty apologized.

Aaron shook his head "NO, you will not apologize for that woman" Aaron almost shouted, but kept his voice as level as possible.

Scotty reeled, as he had never seen Aaron so angry.

Aaron picked up his cell and called for the chopper. He asked one of the staff to show Bertha to the helipad before returning to his guests.

* * *

The Day had finally arrived, Aaron and Scotty had finally moved to California, after so many months of waiting, the engaged couple were sitting down to dinner at Nora's house.

"Oh my god I can't believe you're finally Californians" Justin laughed as he pulled the rack of lamb closer to him.

"I hope I can count on your vote" Robert McCallister quipped, earning sighs from Kitty.

"Well we have an announcement we'd like to make" Scotty piped in, as everyone now looked to him "We've set a wedding date, 3 weeks from today"

The women of the family all glared at Scotty with open mouths. "Isn't that a little soon" Nora finally announced.

"Well we thought about it, and with prop 8 looming we'd like to get married just in case it passes" Scotty explained.

"That thing will never pass" Kevin sighed.

"Don't be too sure" Kitty pressed "I've been looking at the recent polling numbers, it's going to be a very close race"

"Okay okay, politics aside, have you put any thought into the wedding itself?" Nora questioned, clearly fishing.

Aaron smiled "Yes actually we have, we're planning to have it in Vermont, at my father's favourite chateau" he announced.

"But I thought you wanted to have the wedding in California?" Julia questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Aaron nodded "We're getting a certificate here, but the wedding ceremony itself will be done in Vermont. And yes mother you can help plan the wedding, I've told our wedding planner to coordinate with you on the details, she should be calling sometime this week"

"Great" Nora's face lit up.

"Well with all the wedding planning I hope you guys will still be coming to the investment weekend at the winery" Tommy broke in "even though you're not allowed to invest" he chuckled "You can still get plastered"

"Actually with my new job here, I won't be able to make it" Scotty admitted "But Aaron will drink enough for the both of us"

* * *

General Landry, and the rest of SG1 sat patiently as Carter stood ahead of the briefing room table, on the screen behind her several diagrams were displayed.

"As you can see the technology behind these devices is clearly unlike anything we've ever seen before." She concluded.

"So, you think it's alien" Daniel questioned.

"It has to be, Earth science is nowhere near advanced enough to be building devices like this" Carter pushed.

"We also shouldn't be building intergalactic starships but we still do" General Landry replied.

"Well that's because of the stargate, if we had never discovered the stargate we'd still be experimenting with orbital shuttles" Daniel answered.

"So, what's the plan?" Cameron questioned.

"Well, I've been going over the R&D schedule for Vale industries, and it seems that the most advanced technologies to come out of there have one person in common" Carter paused as she pulled up a new screen. "This is Aaron Smith, he's head of R&D, so of course he'd have to sign off on all the projects, however, these records clearly show that over 80% of the design specifications for advanced technologies have come out of his personal design lab"

"So you think this guy's an alien" Daniel asked.

Carter shook her head "No, we've gotten hold of his medical reports and blood work for the past 20 years, he's defiantly human, albeit he does have very high concentrations of the ATA gene"

"How high?" the General questioned.

"The highest levels we have on record, it possible a grandparent of his was an Alteran" Carter admitted.

"Well then maybe he's just smarter than us?" Daniel offered.

Carter shook her head again "No, aside from his ATA gene, the rest of his DNA is completely human, his intelligence quotient wouldn't be any higher than anyone else with the gene"

"So what are you thinking?" Cameron asked.

"I think he is somehow gaining access to technology or physics, and I think we need to find out where this knowledge is coming from" Carter explained.

"What do you need?" Landry questioned.

"I need permission to question him sir" Carter announced.

"You're kidding right?" Cameron laughed "This guy's more connected than the president and you expect to interrogate him?"

"The potential technological gains are worth it in my opinion sir" Carter stated.

The General though for a moment "Very well, you can approach him, but only you, and under no circumstances will you antagonize him."

"Understood General" Carter replied.

* * *

The Walker household was bustle of activity Saturday morning as everyone was getting ready for Tommy's weekend. Aaron had come over to the house early, not wanting to wake Scotty, who had been up late working the night before.

"Aaron honey, do you mind if Justin comes with you? My car's going to be a little full" Nora questioned.

"No problem mom" Aaron replied.

"Cool, I'll throw my stuff in your trunk" Justin announced, snagging Aarons keys "Hey you mind If I drive?"

"Do you need a break from that rust bucket you drive around in?" Aaron laughed.

"Hey now, that rust bucket has gotten me far more action than your car ever will" Justin shouted back as he disappeared up the stair case.

"I suppose you heard about Sarah" Nora questioned.

Aaron nodded his head "I can't believe Joe would do something like that" he confessed.

"Well I just hope she still comes" Nora replied, before picking up a box of food.

"Mom here let me take that" Aaron offered, taking the box from his mother and walking it out to her car. Meanwhile Nora had already started packing another box full of food for the boy's.

As the group were almost ready to leave, a black SUV pulled into the drive way and a woman in dress blues stepped out.

"Oh my god, are they here for you Justin?" Nora almost screamed.

Justin shook his head "No mom, they're air force" he replied, as the Woman finally reached the open door.

"Can I help you?" Nora questioned.

"Hi, I'm Colonel Samantha Carter of the United States Air force. I was told that Aaron Smith would be here?" Carter announced.

"I'm Aaron Smith" Aaron replied stepping ahead of his mother "what is this about?"

"Mr Smith, I'm going to need to talk to you" Carter pressed.

"Am I under arrest for something?" Aaron questioned.

"No sir, it's nothing like that" Carter smiled.

"Well then, if you want to talk to me it'll have to be on the road, we're running late for my brothers event" Aaron announced.

Carter conceded, knowing she could not force the man to do anything, and watched helplessly as the group got into their respective vehicles.

"Are you coming?" Aaron called back to Carter as he watched the dumbfounded women.

Carter looked at the vehicle and jumped into the back seat.

"So what is it you'd like to talk about" Aaron questioned as he pulled out of the driveway and began following his mother's car.

"Well sir it's a matter of national security, I'm not sure your brother has clearance" Carter stammered.

"He's a member of the US military, in fact he's going back into service in a month surely you could grant him temporary clearance for now" Aaron explained.

"Of course" Carter replied, not wanting to give up on the opportunity to interrogate Aaron.

"So I take it this has to do with the PKTS?" Aaron stated.

Carter nodded her head, a useless gesture as Aaron's eyes were glued to the road "Yes" she finally added. "We analyzed the technology behind the devices, and... "

"You weren't able to understand it" Aaron finished "Not surprising, it is based on a theoretical model of the universe I developed when I was 17, we've only now reached the level of technology to test my theories, and thankfully it seems to hold"

Justin sat frozen in silence, knowing full well he was hearing something that he shouldn't.

"The problem is, it doesn't fit any of our..." Carters voice broke off as she searched for an appropriate word "allies" she added "Technology base"

"Well maybe your Allies simply developed their technology along a radically different set of principles" Aaron replied.

"Our allies have very advanced technology, I don't see how you could've produced something far more effective than they" Carter admitted.

"If you're asking if I had help from Allies of my own, the answer is No" Aaron explained "And yes I am aware of what you have been building, it wasn't that hard to piece together from the various contracts that have been running through our production facilities."

Carter was mildly surprised. She was aware that 80 percent of the hardware involved in BC-304 production came from Vale industry subsidiaries, but the production lines themselves would be impossible to put together without relatively advanced knowledge of star ship mechanics.

"That's impossible" Carter stammered.

"Well let's just say some countries in the IOA were a lot less secretive about division of labour. They chose speed over secrecy which is why the British, Russian and Chinese versions will be complete several months ahead of the next American and French ones." Aaron smiled.

"We'd like access to your technology" Carter stated flat out.

"No" Aaron replied.

"You don't understand what's out there" Carter pleaded.

"I probably know more than you think I do" Aaron stated "Don't worry though, I've put into motion certain precautions that will ensure the protection of Earth"

"What kind of protection?" Carter pressed.

"You'll see when the time comes" Aaron replied.

* * *

Homeworld Security was in Disarray as warning klaxons had everyone running for their stations.

"What is happening" General Jack O'Neill, questioned as he entered the planetary Command and Control Centre.

"Our long range hyperspace beacons detected a fleet on approach, they'll be here in the next 30 seconds" A tech responded.

Jack watched as massive screens came to life showing several command centres around the world, including the SGC, along with the bridges of the 6 BC-304's currently parked in orbit.

"Patching through to sat com 48, we've got visuals on the incoming fleet" another Tech announced as the final view screen switched to display over 100 hyperspace windows opening and spitting out a vast fleet of over 200 Ha'Tak's. "They're Lucien alliance, sir and we have an incoming transmission"

"I am No'Kal of the Lucien Alliance, you will hand over an Asgard core and Ancient database, or your world will burn. You have 1 hour to comply" the transmission ended abruptly before jack could even reply.

"Get SG1 here now" O'Neill ordered.

* * *

Sam was still in Aaron's car when she suddenly felt the tingle of the Asgard beam technology. Mere seconds later she found herself in the new CIC centre in Washington.

"What's happening guys?" Carter questioned and was met with grim looking faces.

"We have 208 Ha'Tak's along with over a thousand Alkesh and gliders ready to bomb earth back into the stoneage" Cameron replied from his seat around the massive conference room.

"According to fleet command, we may have enough fire power to stop them, but not before they're able to scrotch the planet and jump away" General Hammond announced as he entered the conference room. Everyone immediately stood in salute "At ease"

"Hank" Samantha smiled giving the general a hug.

"Good to see you again Sam, I just wish it were under better circumstances" Hammond replied.

"So what are our options" Daniel questioned.

"We've already contacted as many of our allies as possible but we're not having much luck. The Jaffa are sending a fleet of over 100 ships, but they won't be here for at least 3 hours. The Tok'ra are adding 30 more ships to the Jaffa fleet, which will arrive far too late, and the Ori have 12 cruisers on their way which again won't arrive for another 2 hours." Jack explained.

"Our current forces are 6 BC-304's with about 100 X-306's and 20 of the newer X-307's, that combined with Atlantis and Antartica drone platforms, we could take out maybe 40 percent of the invading ships before they reach Earth" Hammond announced.

"What about extending Atlantis shield around the planet?" Sam questioned.

"McKay has been working on that, but with only 1 ZPM after depleting the other 2 getting back to Earth, We can't effectively cover a planet the size of Earth" Hammond replied.

"Then we need to buy more time" Cameron offered "Can we stall them?"

Daniel shook his head "No, we've been trying to open a dialog, every communication has been replied to with a countdown clock"

"Then we have no choice, we have to give them the core and database?" Hammond stated.

Sam shook her head "We can't do that, they're already years ahead of us understanding goa'uld technology, if they get access to Asgard and Ancient tech, they'd be unstoppable, we'd be saving Earth at the cost of the rest of the galaxy"

"I'm sorry Sam, but if it comes down to it, we're going to give them the database in exchanging for saving the planet" Hammond announced "Please find me another option.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPEND" Justin yelled as the flash of light subsided and Samantha Carter had disappeared.

"Justin Calm down" Aaron soothed "Something important must be happening if they're willing to expose their beaming technology to civilians"

"Beaming technology?" Justin yelled "Are you telling me the US government has teleporters"

Aaron nodded "I've always suspected, now please don't panic but we're going to be late for Tommy's thing" he announced as he pulled over to the side of the road, and in a split second both he and Justin disappeared.

The pair immerged in Aaron's private Lab, all around several holographic monitors began winking into existence.

"What the hell was that" Justin shouted.

"The government's not the only people with transporter technology" Aaron smiled "Now you have got to help me, these windows are displaying images around the world, we need to find out exactly what is happening"

Justin nodded his head and took a deep breath "Okay" he gasped and then began searching window after window. It was a few minutes before something caught his eye "Um Aaron look at that" he stated.

Aaron looked up at the screen Justin was pointing at, it looked to him like a standard shot of the night sky with many stars in the distance. "What's wrong?"

"That's Orion, and I'm pretty sure there aren't that many stars in the constellation" Justin announced.

Aaron zoomed in on the image and as he did so the source of the additional stars came into sharp focus. What looked like thousands of vessels merely 1 light second away from the planet took form.

"Oh my god, are those ships" Justin gasped "Are you telling me there are alien's out there?"

Aaron ignored his brother and quickly began scanning the subspace frequencies, he soon locked onto transmissions from the alien ships. It took several long minutes before he finally picked up a transmission form Earth to the ships and watched the interaction intently.

An image of a balding General appeared in one window while that of a leather glad younger man appeared on the other.

"I'm General Hammond of Earth's Home World Command, I've been authorised to agree to your terms" the balding general stated "We are transporting an Asgard core, and a copy of the Atlantis Database aboard your vessel now"

Aaron traced the transporter beam and pinpointed the exit location, he quickly locked onto the objects with his own particulate displacement technology and beamed it away from the alien ship and down to his lab.

"What is this trickery" The Alien shouted "Your world will burn for this" it continued as the alien fleet began heading towards Earth.

"What did you do?" Justin yelled.

"I couldn't let them get hold of those databases, there's far too much at stake" Aaron replied.

"Are those things going to blow up the planet now?" Justin questioned.

Aaron shook his head "Not if I have anything to do with it" he smiled.

In New Zealand Aaron had invented the PFM or probability field Manipulator, since then the PFM's had been loaded into Vale Industry satellites, satellites which at this moment where swarming to face the alien fleet. With enough PFM's Aaron was about to make the Lucien Alliance regret ever coming to Earth.

* * *

SG1 could only watch in shocked silence as the databases granulated and disappeared. Moment's later the Lucien Alliance armada began to advance on Earth. Everyone held their collective breathes, bracing for the destruction that would surely follow, but no one was ready for what happened next.

Everyone's eyes went wide as one by one the Lucien Alliance vessels began to break apart into flecks of dust, before massive explosions gripped each ship. Within moments the entire armada was gone, replaced by a series of explosions and scattered particles.

"What the hell just happened?" Jack gawped at the sight.

"I have no idea, but every single Lucien ship was destroyed" a tech responded.

Carter felt a small nudge at the corner of her consciousness that she couldn't quite stow away, once everyone was done celebrating the victory, she spent the next few hours reviewing all scans of the alien ships from every possible sensor that was pointed in that direction.

"Did you find anything?" Cameron questioned as he and Daniel entered Carter's lab.

"I think I did" Carter responded and played back an image of a Ha'Tak. "As you can see, the ship begins to granulate, simply coming apart at the atomic level, moments later there is an explosion originating here" she pointed to a section of the vessel "where the main power core is located". She finally turned away from the screen and looked at the others "Whoever did this was manipulating the molecular bonds holding atoms together, when the atoms lost their cohesiveness they began to fall apart, once the core lost its containment field, it erupted causing the explosion"

"I see" Daniel added, not truly understanding where she was going with this.

"I don't think you really do see Daniel, the point I'm trying to make is this was done by a technology based on physics we haven't encountered yet" Carter explained.

"But we've encountered devices capable of changing the state of atoms, the Tollan let us walk through walls, the Sodan, Neirti all had phase shifting technology to cloak themselves" Daniel pressed.

"Yes, but none of the principles behind those technology could lead to the ability to destabilize the molecular structure of an entire armada, at least not without a power source like a ZPM" Carter replied. She then pulled up images of Vale industry satellites. "When the encounter began, we detected 12 Vale industry satellites reposition themselves to face the alien fleet. Fifteen seconds before the Armada was destroyed we detected a 200 percent power spike in the satellites"

"Are you telling me that Vale Industries was responsible" Cameron questioned.

Carter nodded her head "When I was speaking with Aaron before you beamed me away, he said he had taken steps to ensure the protection of Earth, I think he's integrated some sort of planetary weapons system in these satellites"

"Well then surely we should be thanking him, the Lucien Alliance ships would've decimated the planet" Daniel answered.

"What's to stop him from turning those weapons on Earth, he can literally turn entire cities to dust" Cameron replied.

* * *

"Justin, you can't tell anyone about what just happened" Aaron stated as he transported the pair back into their car.

"You just saved the planet and I'm not allowed to tell anyone, are you kidding me?" Justin shouted.

"If people find out about aliens, and all this technology, they'll be panic and chaos all over the planet" Aaron explained "Promise me you won't tell anyone"

"Fine I promise" Justin replied.

After several long minutes of drive Justin suddenly spoke again "What about the War, with your technology couldn't you like transport all the bad guys into prison?"

"No, I couldn't risk revealing the technology to the planet" Aaron replied.

"But you could save thousands of lives" Justin pleaded.

"I'm doing my best to save as many lives as I can Justin, Imagine how many lives will be lost if people find out we're not alone in the Galaxy. The religious backlash alone will kill millions, not to mention how easily the new technologies will proliferate across the planet and be used to kill more people. I'm afraid leaving people in the dark is the only way to save lives" Aaron stated.


End file.
